


Welcome to the Realm

by caughtinthenow



Series: The Realm [1]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Established Relationship, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, multi person point of view
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-06
Updated: 2017-10-04
Packaged: 2018-11-28 14:24:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 24,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11419863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caughtinthenow/pseuds/caughtinthenow
Summary: “Welcome to the Realm, we’re terribly sorry you had to come, but you’ve been on our list for quite some time.”--Michael and Gavin were your classic best friends to lovers story. Most of all, they were happy. However, right before Michael is about to propose, Gavin suddenly disappears, and just like that, no one remembers who Gavin is. Eventually, Michael forgets too. Gavin wakes up in a strange white room, only to discover he doesn't exist anymore.





	1. In Which Michael's Plan Goes Astray

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is in Michael's POV!

Dating your best friend had its ups and downs, Michael decided.

On the one hand, it was nice to have Gavin to hang out with and do stupid shit with like normal, except with the added benefit of being kiss Gavin and do other various things that best friends usually didn’t did. On the _other_ hand though, some days he wished he could just have his best friend back, knowing that if either of them fucked up enough, they’d not only loose each other as a couple but as best friends too. However, it was mornings like this where Michael knew that they had made the right decision to be together.  Gavin was curled up against Michael, hands gripping Michael’s shirt tightly. Michael nuzzled his face into Gavin’s hair, pressing his lips against the top of Gavin’s head.

“Morning Love,” Gavin sleepily mumbled. Michael grinned.

“Morning Boi,” he hummed, pulling slightly back. Gavin let out a loud disapproving groan, clutching Michael’s shirt.

“Two more minutes,” he begged, though the words barely came out as audible. Michael contemplated saying no, knowing that they had to get to work soon, but he made no effort to get up. He just listened to Gavin’s soft breathing as his boyfriend continued to sleep. He half contemplated what the implications would be if he called them in sick, but he could already hear Geoff bitching at him about not actually being sick. He also knew that by calling in, it would potentially ruin operation: put a ring on it, or, as the rest of his co-workers knew as the party Geoff was specifically throwing just so Michael could propose to Gavin.

Michael finally started pulling away from Gavin, much to Gavin’s disapproval. “Come on Gav, we gotta go,” he groaned. Gavin didn’t move.

“Let’s call in sick. I don’t want to record anything today, I’d much rather spend it in bed,” Gavin whined.

“You know we can’t pull that shit again. Besides, if we don’t go to work _today_ , we can’t go to the party _tonight_ , and we all know how much I enjoy a Geoff Ramsey party. Tomorrow is Saturday and we can spend the whole damn day in bed together tomorrow if that makes you happy,” Michael pointed out.

Gavin let out a long sigh.

“But Geoff’ll let us go anyways, even if we miss. It’s Geoff, he adores me,” Gavin countered. “And tomorrow’s too far away, ” he pointed out. By now, Michael had managed to sit up.

“Too bad, we’re still going. Suck it up bitch,” he joked, leaving Gavin to pout.

\--

“But _Micool_ …..” Gavin whined as Michael hit him off his perch in Minecraft, subsequently stealing all of Gavin’s gubbins and running off towards his safe zone.

“ _But_ _Micool_ …” Michael mimicked, laughing loudly into the mic. Gavin was flailing around next to him, trying to distract Michael so he’d fail, but it was no use, Michael had reached the safe zone. “Oh Geoff,” he sang, plopped down the requested items. “I’d like my piece of the tower now,” he grinned, knowing that he’d easily pay for what he did later. He loved watching Gavin get riled up though, it was rather hilarious, and the fans just ate it up.

The video continued on, though eventually they decided to stop for the day, given that they had been recording for quite some time.  The day had gone fairly fast, especially since they had filmed an Off Topic. He had purposely not drank much, knowing that he wanted to be sober for the night ahead of them. Gavin was already waiting outside for him. Michael was busy gathering his remaining things. Geoff stopped by his desk on the way out. “You’re still doing it tonight, right? Not going to chicken out?” he asked. Michael looked up, and grinned.

“Yeah? Of course I am,” he said, partially confused, considering he had been ranting excitedly to Geoff and the rest of his coworkers all week.

“It’s just a big step, and it’s Gavin, and I’d understand if you wanted to put it off or not do it. Party would still go on of course,” Geoff said, looking at him sympathetically. Michael snorted, shaking his head.

“Dude, I’m going to do it. I’m ready for that step and I _think_ he is too. I mean, you’re right, it’s Gavin, he might flip his shit, but I won’t know till I try, you know? I really do love him,” he explained. Geoff relaxed, nodding.

“Okay, if you’re sure, I’ll see you tonight then. Don’t forget to bring the bevs though, I might be hosting, but this is your party and you get to supply,” he announced. Michael just nodded, giving his boss a thumbs up. He watched as Geoff walked out.

[ sms -> Gavin ] ??? You coming ???

Michael glanced at his phone, sighing softly.

[ sms -> Michael ] Yeah, just had to talk to Geoff, be there soon.

Michael shoved the rest of his things in his bag, figuring he’d worry about everything later. From the opposite side of the room, Ryan peeked over the desk towards him.

“Don’t worry, I’ll lock up. Tell Geoff I’ll be there after I finish editing this Let’s play,” the older man announced. Michael just nodded, though he wasn’t sure why Ryan hadn’t just said so when Geoff had been around. He walked quickly outside, eager to see Gavin again, not that he didn’t get his fill throughout the day.

When Michael got to his car, something was off. Normally, Gavin would be waiting for him. Yet, Gavin wasn’t there, not even his bag. Michael furrowed his brow. Where the fuck was Gavin? Shaking his head, he pulled out his phone, but froze, somewhat confused. His normal lock screen, some stupid picture of Gavin, had been replaced with the Zelda emblem. Had he changed it? Shaking his head, he opened his phone to his texts.

Only, there wasn’t any texts. At least, none from Gavin. Confusion boiled up in him, and he wasn’t sure what was going on. He went to his favorites, knowing he could just call Gavin, however, again, Gavin wasn’t there. Panicking, he started going through the rest of his phone, but there was no trace of Gavin anywhere. Something was going on. Something freaky was going on. He quickly dialed Geoff’s number.

“Hello?” Geoff answered.

“Hey, did Gavin catch a ride with you, because I swear that fucker is the most impatient guy I know,” he groaned.

“Who?” Geoff asked. Michael blinked.

“Gavin? Annoying as fuck British guy, always fucking up, large nose? My boyfriend? Soon to be Fiance?” he said, already angry.

“Wait, you’re gay?” Geoff replied, sounding surprised. Michael pulled back the phone, staring at it blankly.

“No, not gay, also not the point. Stop fucking with me Geoff, did he go home with you or not?” Michael said.

“Uh, no? I don’t know a Gavin, so why the hell would he go home with me?” Geoff said, now sounding annoyed.

“Yes you do? He works with us? Desk is next to mine? Used to live at your house?” He said, feeling anger rising.

“Um, Michael, the desk next to yours is empty? Well, for now anyways, I wasn’t going to announce it till the party tonight, but we hired someone finally,” Geoff said. Michael blinked.

“What the hell is your problem, Geoff? Its Gavin. We literally just talked about him ten minutes ago?” Michael snapped.

“We talked about you bringing the booze, not about this fake imaginary boyfriend of yours,” Geoff snapped back. “Look, I know we’ve been working really hard lately. Maybe you shouldn’t come tonight, just go home and relax. I gotta go, I have to pick up my kid,” Geoff sighed, and the line went dead. Michael shook his head at the phone, staring in disbelief. This wasn’t happening.

Suddenly, the world felt like it was spinning, and whether Michael realized it or not, he was falling. The last thing he saw was someone shouting at him, before it all went black. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there! This has been a work in progress for awhile now! This is not beta-read at all just to warn everyone. I plan on updating every Friday, and it'll be posted here and on my Tumblr (anotherachievement)! I happily would welcome any kind of feedback !! Thank you for reading !!


	2. Gavin Enters the Realm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is set in Gavin's point of view.

Gavin blinked slowly awake, unsure of where he really was. One minute, he was in Michael’s car, the next, he was waking up here. Wherever _here_ was…His head felt as though it was throbbing. He sat up slowly, taking in his surroundings, though there wasn’t much to take in. The room was a solid white and rather small. He rubbed his eyes, shaking his head. This had to be a dream. Gavin pinched himself, and then he pinched himself harder, however, it didn’t work.

“Hello, Mr. Free,” a female voice suddenly rang through the room. Gavin looked up quickly, looking around, trying to see where the voice was coming from. To his confusion, he saw no one. He was alone. Maybe he had imagined it. Gavin leaned his head back, resting his head on a wall. “Welcome to the Realm, we’re terribly sorry you had to come, but you’ve been on our list for quite some time,” she explained. Gavin blinked, not sure if he understood.

“I’m sorry, but what?” he asked, though he wasn’t sure if he should be talking to this strange voice.

“I know you must be very confused, Mr. Free, but all will be explained, in due time,” she paused. “For now though, welcome to your new home. Unfortunately, until you have been cleared, you won’t be able to leave this room. However, in the meantime, we hope you are comfortable and apologize for the inconvenience. Your Keeper will be with you shortly.”

Gavin wasn’t sure how to respond. His brain just simply _couldn’t_ process what was happening. Had he gotten kidnapped? Who would even want to do that? He stared blankly at the wall, feeling dazed. Maybe it really was a dream, and he’d wake up at home with Michael by his side. _Maybe_.

\--

Gavin wasn’t sure how long he had been staring at the wall across from him, or how long he had been alone. He wasn’t even sure how much time has even passed period. From the opposite end of the room, there was a soft beep, and a young lady stepped through the wall. She was fairly young, admittedly attractive, with her brunette hair tied back in a smooth ponytail, flowing behind her. She was also carrying a tablet, and upon seeing Gavin, she immediately starts typing something. Gavin gazed over at her. She surveyed the area as if inspecting it and turned to lock eyes with Gavin.

A small smiled crept over her lips, and she walked towards him. “Hello Mr. Free, I am your Keeper. My name is Meg Turney,” she introduced, a bright smile on her face. Gavin just stared, not making any effort to try to be polite. “I understand how alarming this must be for you, and it’s completely fine to be in shock,” she stared. Gavin continued to stare. She bent down, typing something on else.

“Why am I here?” Gavin finally said. She smiled sympathetically, though she looked pleased that he had finally said something. Her fingers quickly moved as they typed something on the tablet.

“The Realm keeps all realities in the universe in check so that all realities of life runs smoothly. Normally, the Realm just observes each reality. However, occasionally, situations arise where the Realm must step in. People who weren’t supposed to exist are among these situations. When this happens, everything has to be corrected. Of course, cases like this can occasionally have no adverse effect on the reality and can go unnoticed. Unfortunately, Mr. Free, you were never meant to exist in this reality. In fact, as far as we can tell, you weren’t supposed to exist in any _future_ realities. We allowed you to stay in the current reality for far too long and the Overseer has decided that you have overstayed your welcome,” she paused, giving him a sympathetic smile. Gavin furrowed his eyes brows, just staring at her. What the hell was she talking about?

“The current reality should now be corrected. Hopefully, everything will run smoothly now that you’re here, and this error will not occur again,” she added, looking curiously at Gavin. Gavin felt as though he had just been punched in the stomach. His head was spinning, and he wasn’t sure how exactly how to process the information he was receiving. He began to violently shake his head.

“This is a sick joke, you have got to be kidding me,” he hissed. She frowned, tilting her head.

“I assure you, Mr. Free, this is no joke. We aren’t completely sure how you managed to exist in this reality, but like I said, we have fixed the issue,” she replied.

“What do you mean though? How have you ‘fixed the issue’?” He asked though he wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer. Meg was quiet for a moment, studying him.

“As of 6:42 PM, you do not exist. In fact, there is no trace of a Gavin Free ever existing,” she announced. Gavin felt his heart drop, heart racing. He couldn’t have heard that right. That was impossible. He shook his head, refusing to accept it. This had to be a dream. If it wasn’t some kind of sick joke, it had to be a dream. There was no way someone could erase someone from existing. “Now, based off of the mental scans we took of you after you arrived, it appears that you would be most comfortable in a living situation closely resembling your home,” she rattled off, though Gavin wasn’t listening. He was still stuck on not existing. Surely _someone_ remembered him. His mum and dad couldn’t have forgotten about him, there was no way. Gavin’s head felt as though it was about to explode. What about Michael? Had Michael forgotten about him?

He hadn’t noticed Meg in the corner, pressing something against a wall, however, he did notice the sudden change in location. It was as if he was back in his apartment again. “We have matched this room to fit the specs of your home in the reality, however, you will find you will be unable to leave the front door. Do not attempt to leave, as your efforts will go to waste.  I will be back to check on you again later, but in the meantime, please relax,” Meg hummed, seemingly pleased by what she saw around her. Then, she promptly turned around and left Gavin alone.

He couldn’t move, he couldn’t feel anything more than utter shock.  This wasn’t happening, this _couldn’t_ be happening.

\--

It was eerie how accurate the apartment was. It had everything, even the dent in the wall next to their couch that Michael had made while they had been moving in together. It had the stain Gavin had created when they were having a party with their co-workers. In the kitchen, the cupboard didn’t close properly, something like it hadn’t since the two of them attempted to fix it. It was all overwhelming, and he couldn’t help but just feel drained. Gavin knew he shouldn’t feel at home, yet it was his home. He had waited for who knows how long for to Michael to walk through the door telling him how much of an idiot he was for believing people, but he never came.

Eventually, he gave up. He gave up hoping that Michael would come, or that he’d just wake up. He gave up thinking maybe someone would come in and tell him they were just kidding or that they made a mistake, but no one did. He dragged himself to his room and was sickened by the sight. If he was upset by what he saw in the rest of the house, this was worse. It was _exactly_ how he and Michael had left it that morning. His side of the bed was bunched up—he hadn’t bothered making it before they had left for work. Michael’s side, however, was neatly made. Swallowing the lump forming in his throat, Gavin walked slowly to his side. He didn’t bother changing, he didn’t have the energy to do so.

The bed felt right, it was the _only_ thing that felt right, at least, at first. Gavin could faintly smell the scent of Michael’s shampoo, and when he reached for his boyfriend’s pillow, he could almost pretend it was him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there again! I know it's not Friday yet, but it's Friday where I am, so that means it was chapter time! I've actually rewritten the majority of this story because I realized how confusing it was getting to explain everything and even my unofficial editor (sister) was slightly confused. Hopefully, this all makes sense to everyone and all of you enjoy it !! As always, this will be posted on my Tumblr (anotherachievement)! I'm still looking for a beta reader if anyone is interested!


	3. In Which Michael Forgets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This Chapter is in Michael's POV!

Michael woke with a start. He immediately tried to sit up, however, he quickly realized that was a terrible idea because suddenly his head felt as though it was about to explode. As he tried to register what was happening, he felt a sense of numbness come over him. Something was wrong. Something didn’t feel right. Something felt _missing_. He rubbed at his eyes and reached for his glasses. “Hey buddy,” a familiar voice came. Michael looked over, eyes meeting with Geoff. It didn’t take him long to figure out he was in a hospital room.

“What’s going on?” he asked, confused. “Why am I at a hospital?”

Geoff shrugged. “You were freaking out on me about your supposed boyfriend named Gavin, and then Ryan found you collapsed in the parking lot. We got you here, you’ve been out for a day or so, but the doctor says nothing serious seems to be going on. It freaked us all out though, Michael,” he explained.

Michael frowned. At the mention of Gavin, he had a weird feeling. “I don’t know a Gavin…?” he said slowly. Geoff shrugged again.

“You were really freaking out. Not sure what was going on there honestly. Maybe it’d be best for you to take a couple of days to yourself though. You have been working pretty damn hard lately,” Geoff sighed. Michael opened his mouth to protest, but Geoff shook his head. “Actually, not maybe. You’re going to take a couple of days off whether you want to or not. We need you on your A-game,” Geoff explained. Michael pouted. He didn’t approve of this decision, but as he tried to sit up again, he felt sick again.

He was discharged the next day, much to Geoff’s annoyance. He received calls throughout the day, mostly just his co-workers checking in on him. Something still felt off though, as though something was missing. He kept waiting for a phone call or visit from someone, but he couldn’t figure out who. He couldn’t figure out what was gone though. He wracked his brain, trying to figure out what he was wrong, but at the end of the day, he still couldn’t figure it out.

\--

A few days had turned into a week. A week of numbness. He was feeling a sense of loss, and he couldn’t shake it, no matter how hard he tried. A week of trying to figure out what was missing in his life, despite not being able to remember what he has lost. “I need a fucking Remembrall,” he muttered to himself. His apartment felt too quiet and he weirdly felt lonelier than he ever had before. He sipped his coffee, eyes trained on a spot on the wall. It was dented, but not too terribly. Looking at it gave him a feeling of amusement but when he tried to remember when he got that, how he got it, nothing was coming up.

When Michael came back to work, the desk next to him had boxes stacked up on the chair, and there was a fresh set up, similar to his own desk. Michael started going through his emails, waiting for his coworkers to come in. He debated if he was ready to edit his last rage quit, though he wasn’t sure if he had to re-record anything. He knew he had been in a rush to finish the video, and it hadn’t been his best. Something felt wrong with the video though, as though someone was missing. It felt like he was yelling not just at the video, but at someone. It didn’t make sense to him, he distinctly remembered being alone during the video. Shaking his head, he continued going through the footage.

“Excuse me? Do you know if Geoff’s here yet?” said a voice from behind him. Michael jumped, turning quickly. His eyes fell on a woman. He stared at her for a moment, trying to find his words as his heart began to race fast. Eventually, he just shook his head. She looked disappointed by the response.

“He should be here soon though. He’s never here till he’s taken his kid to school, and she doesn’t start till eight,” he explained, finally looking away. She just nodded slowly.

“I guess I’ll wait here then if that’s okay?” she said, eyes flickering towards the chair next to Michael, and then to the couch. She seemed to be debating about where to sit. Finally, she just moved to the empty spot on the couch. “I’m Lindsay, by the way,” she hummed.

“Michael,” he replied. She beamed at him, and he felt something inside of him flicker with giddiness. She was staring at his screen curiously. Normally, it would drive him crazy to have someone watching him like that, but he didn’t seem to mind.

“What are you working on?” she asked. Michael let out a breath, glancing over at her.

“My latest rage quit, but I’m probably going to scrap it. Something seems like it’s missing from it, and I can’t figure out what,” he explained. Her eyes lit up.

“Wait, you’re the rage quit guy? That’s amazing! Your videos are hilarious,” she complimented.

Michael grinned, pleased by the praise. He didn’t know who this person was, but he liked her already.

\--

“Right so, this is Lindsay,” Geoff paused, gesturing to the woman, who gave a quick wave. “Starting today she’s going to be the inevitably better portion of Achievement Hunter, and I expect all of you dumb shits to be nice.”

Michael watched as Geoff moved to the desk next to him, moving things around. “So, I know you just got back from vacation, Michael, but I’m going to count on you to show Lindsay how stuff works around here, maybe give her a tour,” he ordered. Michael just nodded slowly. Sure. Yeah. He could do that. He turned towards Lindsay.

“I guess I’m giving you a tour then,” he said. She nodded.

“Sounds great to me, lead the way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Here's the third chapter! Just a heads up though, next week I'll post chapter four on time, but I'm not entirely sure what my internet situation is going to be like on for the first two weeks of August since I'll be in the process of moving. I should have internet if it all goes the way it should, but if I find out that I won't, I'll probably make an early chapter post. I'm still looking for a beta reader (I'd love to have someone tell me where I need to slow down at or add more detail or just really anything), so if any one was interested, message me on my Tumblr (anotherachievement). As always Kudos and comments are always appreciated!! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!


	4. In Which Time Passes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin is struggling with accepting being trapped in the Realm. Fortunately, he has some company in the Realm and even gets a visit from an unexpected person. Note: This chapter is set in Gavin's POV.

 

There had to be a way out, Gavin was sure there had to be. He stared at the door for a long time, wondering if Meg’s threats of him attempting anything were a load of bullshit. The door was taunting him. He  _ knew  _ it was. Meg had mentioned not trying to go through the door, yet she never told him  _ why  _ it’d go to waste. He glanced around, unsure if he was being watched right then.  How was he supposed to know what really would happen, unless he actually tried? After all, she could have just said that to scare him off of the idea of even trying.

He walked calmly in the direction of the door until he reached it. Gavin let his hand rest on the handle. He hadn’t realized that he had been holding his breath until he eventually let a breath out as he turned the knob. He pushed the door, watching it swing open. Gavin looked around, wondering if something was going to happen to him if someone was about to jump out at him and tell him to go back. After a few moments of no intervention, he lurched forward, determined that this was his chance.

The hallway looked innocent enough, familiar even. He ran down the hall, towards the elevator. However, suddenly everything was twisting around him. He clenched his eyes shut, terrified of what was happening to him. When he opened his eyes, he was back in the room. Gavin felt his eyes widen. There was no way he should be back here, absolutely no way. He stared at the door in disbelief.

He had to try again.

\--

After the tenth time trying to go through the door, he realized it was doing no good. In fact, when he appeared into the living room for the last time, he was met with a very aggravated Meg. “Weren’t you listening when I said that you won’t be able to leave?” she hissed, looking at the door. Gavin glared at her but shrugged. He walked towards the door again. Maybe one more time. Maybe the last time was the charm. He felt an arm on his shoulder, pulling him away from the door. “It’s no use. Believe me. You can’t leave this,” she said, appearing to be trying to be calm. Gavin continued glaring at her as he dropped his head.

“So what, I’m expected to just stay here in this apartment forever?” he snapped. She looked taken aback, as though shocked by the nerve of him asking.

“I don’t have control of the illusion, that would be up to the Overseer to decide whether or not you would get to leave,” she said, tight lipped. He looked away from her, biting his tongue before he could make another comment. “Look, I will look into it. Maybe there is something we can do about it,” she promised. Gavin snorted quietly but nodded.

He wasn’t going to hide it, he was bitter about his situation. No, he was  _ angry  _ about his situation. What gave the overseer or Meg the right to do this to him?

“I promise I will see what I can do for you. I know this is a crappy situation,” she said softly, looking genuinely sorry. He didn’t want to believe her, but something in him did. Something that overpowered his anger.

“Thank you.”

\--

Days turned into weeks. He hoped every day he’d wake up and it’d be over. He still slightly held onto hope that maybe Michael would walk through the door and tell him it was all over, yet it never happened. Despite Meg’s warning, he continued to try to find a way out. He knew there had to be a way out.

Every time he tried to leave, he ended up back in the living room, just like Meg said.

\--

Gavin felt defeated as he opened his eyes to see, yet again, he was still in the living room. It was frustrating, he just wanted to leave. He just wanted to be gone.

“I know you hope that trying to escape will work, but it’s not going to,” Meg said softly. Gavin looked over at her, wondering just how long she had been there. His shoulder’s slumped, and he gave up. There was no use, he knew that now. He sunk onto the couch, eyes closed. He had to accept it. He felt something pushing onto his chest. Sorrow. Frustration. Anger.

“Hey, Gavin?” Meg said softly. Gavin didn’t respond. “Let’s do something. You have movies and games, we could do something,” she suggested. He swallowed hard, forcing himself to look up. She looked sincere, and he felt a bit of comfort. He watched as she got up, moving towards the tv. She squatted down, rummaging through a small cupboard in the entertainment center. When she turned back, he could see two Xbox controllers.

Meg handed him a controller. “I challenge you to a Mario Kart race,” she announced.

Gavin stared at her for a moment. “Keepers play video games?” he asked, albeit teasingly. She shook her head, laughing at him.

“No, of course not. I’m challenging you to a game I know absolutely nothing about,” she said sarcastically. “Of course I play video games!”

Gavin decided to let things go, to just relax, even if it was only for the night. “Hope you’re ready to loose then, Turney. ”

\--

Weeks turned into months. If it wasn’t for the fact that he had Meg to keep him company, he swore he’d probably go mad. Gavin felt restless, desperate for something other than his home. Everything that had brought him any sort of comfort was gone and he hated it.

He had grown used to Meg. It was hard to warm up to her at first, especially since he had only seen her as his warden. She seemed fairly reluctant to bridge any sort of friendship at. There was some kind of pull he felt towards her though, something he couldn’t figure out. Despite his initial feelings towards her, it was almost as though things with her were natural. They got along fair enough. He was pretty sure Meg spent more time with him in the house than she spent in her own home, that is if she had one. He never pried into the life of a Keeper, and she never seemed to tell him anything about it.

\--

“Are you hanging out tonight?” he asked her as she finished her daily task of checking in on him. She faltered for a moment, before giving a small smile.

“Yeah, for sure, I’ll even bring dinner,” she announced. He raised an eyebrow, curious about what she was meaning. “Just because we can’t change illusions here doesn’t mean that I can’t manipulate things outside of your illusion to bring to you,” she hummed cheerfully. Gavin went wide eyed. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to expect, but right then, any kind of change was a good change.

“What are you bringing?” he asked, curious about what exactly she could bring into the illusion. She smirked, giving him a playful shrug.

“Guess you’ll just have to wait till I bring it. I have some things to do, but I’ll be back in a couple of hours. You  _ can _ wait a couple of hours without me, right?” She replied. Gavin rolled his eyes, getting up from where he was sitting. He walked over to the door and opened it. He ushered his hand from her to the door, inviting her to leave.

“Of course I can,” he replied, giving her a challenging look. Meg let out a laugh as she made her way to the door.

“Good, it’s a date then,” she hummed, winking. Meg took a step through the door, disappearing. He always had wondered how she was able to leave, but he knew no matter what, it wouldn’t work for him. Let out a sigh, he closed the door.

Gavin settled on the couch, her words playing over and over in his head. A date? Was this really going to be a date? Admittedly, he didn’t feel opposed to the idea, not at all.

He sat quietly, wondering what he was going to do while she was gone.  Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw something moving. He jerked his head to the side, hoping to catch a glimpse of it, however, whatever it was, was gone as quickly as it appeared.

Frowning to himself, he suddenly felt himself feel exhausted as if all the energy had been zapped out of him.

\--

_ Gavin felt the bed dip down next to him, an arm slowly draping over his body. The unknown person pulled him closer, nuzzling into the base of his neck. Gavin felt shivers running through his body. He turned, and immediately, his heart started racing. “Michael!” he gasped. Michael was smiling at him, appearing pleased by Gavin’s reaction. _

_ “Hey Gav,” he hummed, leaning in. Gavin felt lips brushing against his. It was a sensation he had missed, though not as much as he missed Michael. “I’m home.” He pressed a kiss against Gavin’s lips. Gavin clung to Michael, terrified that if he let go, Michael might disappear. They laid together quietly for what felt like hours to Gavin, not that he was going to complain. _

_ “I missed you so much, my little Michael,” Gavin murmured. Michael cuddles closer to Gavin, just showering him with small kisses instead of replying. Gavin didn’t continue to speak, instead of enjoying everything. This felt real, Michael felt real. _

_ “I missed you too.” _

\--

Gavin’s eyes opened slowly. He felt overwhelmed by the dream. On one hand, it felt real. He felt as though he could still feel Michael’s lips on his, yet the fact that he was still in the living room and was very Michael-less. Gavin let out a whimper as he had to reaccept the fact that he was gone and he’d never see his Michael again. Dream Michael wasn’t too bad though, not as great as the real Michael, but he’d rather have dreams than not.

He zoned out, wishing that he could go back to sleep and dream about Michael again. There was a knock on his door, causing him to jump. Suddenly, Meg strolled in, carrying a bag of food and a case of beers. It had annoyed him how freely Meg could just come in and out of his living space at the beginning, but eventually, he hadn’t bothered to care.

Gavin’s eyes zoomed in on the bag, and a huge smile crossed his lips as he processed what it was. “Whataburger!” he cheered. She nodded, holding it up.

“You kept talking about it. I know it’s not fancy or anything, but it sounded great,” she replied. Gavin shook his head.

“I’m happy about it. Honestly. I’ve missed things like this,” he hummed, feeling his mouth already watering. Gavin led the way towards the table, eager to start eating. He gestured for Meg to sit down, and he dashed off to the kitchen to grab two plates.

A couple minutes later, Gavin felt like he was in heaven. The burger tasted like heaven, pure heaven. “This is actually pretty good,” Meg announced. Gavin gave a triumphant smile, before returning back to chowing down on the burger. The two of them talked occasionally when they weren’t too focused on eating. Gavin debated if he should bring up his dream of Michael, but decided at the last minute to not say anything.

The night progressed. The two of them drank, watched a movie, and creamed each other in Mario Kart. He learned that Meg apparently enjoyed playing survival games, but any mention of Mario Kart she eagerly would play. By the end of the night, Gavin had almost forgotten about his dream.

_ Almost _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I hope you enjoy this chapter, i'm really excited for the next two chapters, but I honestly had fun writing this chapter. Just a quick reminder, i'm not entirely sure what my update schedule looks like for the next couple of weeks, mainly because I will be traveling the majority of it. Thank you for reading this though!


	5. In Which Another Enters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meg receives a task from the Overseer that makes her slightly upset, but she knows she has to do it. Another person enters the Realm.
> 
> This chapter is in Meg's POV!
> 
> (or otherwise known as, "I'm terrible at summaries")

ONE YEAR LATER.  
Being with Gavin was different.

At first, Meg had no intention of getting close to Gavin, after all, she was his Keeper. Yet, it was one thing after another. She felt drawn to him as if she was supposed to be connected to him. She knew he was probably only with her because she was the only option, but she didn’t care anymore. Maybe, deep down, that was her reason too, she just didn’t want to admit it.

  
In the months that had gone by, she found herself spending more time in his illusion and less time in her own home. There was something comforting about sleeping next to someone at night. She considered just living in Gavin’s illusion, only leaving when she had to, but she dreaded the idea of a potential punishment if she was caught. Glancing towards Gavin, she gave a small smile. He was worth it.

  
Meg slowly sat up. Normally, she out slept him. She would eventually wake up to him trying to move around the apartment. However, she relished the rare moment of just lying next to him, listening to his slow and even breathing. Meg hated the idea that she had to move out of bed, but she knew she had work to do that day, _actual_ work. She knew she had to get a report to the Overseer about Gavin, but the report could wait, she decided. First, she needed coffee. 

\--

  
Meg sipped her coffee as she sat at the dining table. The apartment was silent. Despite knowing that Gavin deserved to sleep in, she couldn’t help but wish that Gavin was awake to keep her company. A morning without him just didn’t feel right.

Suddenly, the room around her started to twist around, and she felt herself being pulled from the illusion. She quickly set her coffee down on the table in a hurry so the cup wouldn’t break. To a normal person, this would probably frighten them, yet Meg knew exactly what this meant. When everything stopped twisting around, she found herself in a dark room, standing in front of a large platform.

  
“Hello Meg,” a distorted voice said. Meg looked up towards a shadowy figure.

  
“Good morning, Overseer,” she said, standing up straight. She had never seen his face, though, at this point, she wasn’t sure he even had one. In the whole time she had been assigned as a Keeper in his Realm, she had just accepted it.

  
“I have a new assignment for you,” he announced. Meg’s heart dropped, dreading what was coming. The Overseer was pulling her from Gavin, she knew it. She had been dreading this day. She braced herself for the news, though she knew it was going to destroy her. “I need you to go to the other world and extract someone. Another person slipped past my notice and existed when they should have never existed. I’ve been keeping an eye on them for awhile now, but unfortunately for them, they have messed with the universe more than they should have. I want you to place them in the same illusion you have for Mr. Free, as you will be the keeper for both of them,” he announced. Meg wanted to let out a breath of relief but knew she couldn’t do it there. She dreaded the idea of having to take someone else out of the reality, but knowing that she wasn’t being taken away from Gavin was a comfort.

  
Something felt off to her though--something that hadn’t made sense to her. If the Overseer had known about both Gavin and this new person existing, why had he allowed them to live on? Still, she knew better than to question him.

“I will do that right away, sir,” she announced. The Overseer let out a light chuckle.

  
“And that is why you’re my favorite, Meg,” he announced. Meg cringed slightly but gave a polite smile. “You will be transported to Earth in a few moments. Remember, you just need to be in and out, there’s no need to spend unnecessary time on Earth, just extract your target. You’ll find all the information that you need will be on your tablet,” the Overseer explained. Meg nodded, pulling out her tablet. Sure enough, the information file popped up on the screen.  
Within seconds, the world was twisting around her again. It was her second time going to Earth, and she wished that she could spend more time there. There were so many things she would like to see, especially after seeing how happy certain places made Gavin. Everything slowed down, and eventually, things started to come into focus.

  
Meg felt like the wind was knocked out of her when she realized where she was. This was too close to home and she knew it wasn’t going to end well. She quickly glanced at her tablet, eyes widening. Her target was laying in bed and had obviously just woken up. Meg watched for a moment, eyes trained on the person. In the background, she could hear water running. She inched closer towards the person, unsure how to approach them. With Gavin, it had been simple. He had just opened the door and his back had been turned away from her. She had just been able to transport him without him even noticing she was there.

  
Meg jumped when she heard a voice coming from the other room. Panicking, she lurched forward, grabbing her target before they could say anything. She quickly tapped the transport button on her tablet, and again, everything was shifting around her. Guilt swept through her as it hit her what she had just done.  
As soon as the twisting stopped, her target collapsed against her, causing Meg to lose her balance for a moment. She knew that the target wouldn’t remember being taken or even traveling into the other realm, but she still felt guilty. Sighing softly, she regained her balance and gently set down the target.  
Meg left the holding room quickly, knowing she had to warn Gavin about what was about to happen.

  
\--

  
When she entered into Gavin’s illusion, he was already awake. He was sitting at the table, quietly eating his breakfast. He glanced up when she entered, eyebrow raising as she slumped into the chair next to him. “You were gone when I woke up,” he said casually. She nodded, reaching for her now cold coffee. She grimaced, putting it back down.

  
“The Overseer had a job for me to do,” she sighed, trying to figure out how she was going to explain to him that he was about to have a permanent roommate.  
He snorted. “What did he want this time?” She didn’t smile.

  
“I had to pull someone out. Turns out you’re not the only person that shouldn’t have existed,” she explained hesitantly, eyes trained on Gavin. Gavin frowned, setting down his fork. He looked as though he wasn’t sure how to respond. “I wanted to warn you,” she started, biting her lip. “The Overseer wants the two of you in the same illusion. Didn’t specify why, but we both know I can’t go against him,” she said. Gavin stared at her blankly, and Meg quickly realized it was nearly impossible to read how he felt about the situation.

  
“When are they going to be here?” he finally said.

  
“I’m waiting for them to wake up. I’ll explain what’s going on to them like I did to you, and then I’ll place them into the illusion,” she explained. He nodded. She felt somewhat shocked by how okay he was with it, though she knew she should just be grateful for the fact that he wasn’t making this difficult on her. “I didn’t want them to just show up and it be shocking that someone else was here,” she added. Again, he nodded.

  
“Thanks,” he said softly. They sat quietly as Gavin finished up his breakfast. Meg played with her coffee, mind going in a million directions. The fact that she had to pull both Gavin and her newest target out was bothering her, and she couldn’t understand why it was necessary.  Something felt off about all of this, but she couldn’t figure out what was wrong.

  
A small alarm rang, alerting her to a video feed. She hadn’t even realized that she had set her tablet down, but she snatched it up quickly. Meg prayed that Gavin didn’t see the video pop up. “I have to go,” she said quickly. She didn’t even bother walking out of the front door. Instead, she pulled herself out of the illusion without waiting for Gavin to respond.

  
Taking a deep breath, Meg walked into the holding room, forcing herself to be ready.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! Thank you for the Kudos, it's meant a lot to me! I've got my internet situation under control now, so I should be able to post Chapter 6 in time next week! Thanks for reading !! Also special thanks to 10MonthDay for putting up with me randomly messaging her to help me edit!). Hopefully the time jump doesn't bother anyone! I plan on doing one-shots in the time I skipped! I'm thinking about posting twice a week, I'd love to hear if people want that!


	6. In Which Michael's Plans Go Astray Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All Michael wants to do is be happy. It seems like someone or something doesn't want him to be though. This is a continuation of the previous chapter!

“I love you so much, you know that?” Lindsay hummed, running her fingers through Michael’s hair as they cuddled on his bed. Michael laughed softly, swooping in to press a quick kiss on his girlfriend’s lips.

“Of course, I know that,” he grinned, holding her tightly.  He could practically feel the smile on her lips as they pulled apart. “Do you know how much I love you?” he asked. She scrunched up her face, pretending to think hard. Michael just shook his head at her, feigning disappointment. Lindsay just laughed, cuddling up to him closer.

“Of course, I know,” she said, mimicking his response to her.

 One year. It had been one year since he had met Lindsay. One year since his life had been changed. One year since he found the best friend he had been wishing for. They had the day off, a day that he had been planning for weeks now, but first, he just wanted to spend some time with Lindsay before they started their day.

It had been an interesting year for him. Dating Lindsay was different than he was used to. Often, she frustrated him. She was messy, apparently, couldn’t cook to save her life, and overall, he almost thought they were complete opposites. Yet, he loved that. He loved her. He was the happiest he had ever been, and half way through it all, he decided she was the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

“So, what are we doing today?” Lindsay asked.

“I thought maybe first we could go get lunch at that place you like, but the rest is more of a surprise,” he grinned.

“You and your surprises, Mr. Jones,” she teased. Michael nodded.

“You could say that I’m always full of surprises,” he teased back. They laid together in bed, continuing to cuddle for a while before Michael let out a long sigh. “I’m going to jump in the shower,” he announced.

“You need some company?” Lindsay flirted. Michael raised an eyebrow.

“Well, you’re more than welcome join me, though I’m pretty sure we’ll get nowhere fast if you do,” he replied, sitting up. Lindsay laid back for a moment, a smirk on her face.

“Great, so I’ll be in there in a couple minutes. Let me know when the water’s warm.”

Michael rolled his eyes but gave a quick smile. He wandered quickly to the bathroom, eager to start up the shower. So maybe he was a little more eager than he showed. He quickly stripped off his clothes, climbing into the shower.  He waited for the water to slowly heat up, wondering if Lindsay was getting ready to get in. Maybe a shower together would be a great start to their day.

He couldn’t contain his excitement for the upcoming events of the day. It had been Geoff’s idea for the two of them to take the day off, even offering to help surprise Lindsay. He knew the day was going to go perfectly, and of course, if all went well, Lindsay would be his fiancée.

He hadn’t noticed how long the water had been running, maybe he got too caught up in his thoughts. “Linds, the water’s ready,” he called out. Michael waited for Lindsay’s response, however, when one didn’t come, he furrowed his eyebrows. “Lindsay, the water’s warm,” he called again. Still, no response. Frowning, he sighed. Maybe she had fallen back asleep. Reaching for his shampoo, Michael gently squeezed a generous amount out and began to massage it in his hair. The fact that Lindsay wasn’t replying was bothering him, probably more than it should.

“Seriously Lindsay, come on. I’m already halfway through the shower,” he called out. Like the other times, there was no reply. Gritting his teeth, he quickly finished the shower. If she wasn’t going to join him, he wasn’t going to bother with taking his time.

He quickly dried off his hair, ignoring the fact that his hair was now sticking out in a million different directions. Wrapping the towel around himself, he walked out towards his bedroom. It wasn’t that he was annoyed—though all right, he was partially annoyed. “I swear to God, Lindsay, if you fel-” he stopped, dead in his tracks. Lindsay wasn’t there. “Lindsay?” he called out, confused. He felt panic rising through him—a sensation he was sure that he had felt before—as he frantically looked around the apartment. Lindsay was nowhere to be found. His heart was racing as he tried to figure out what to do.

Michael whipped out his phone, knowing it’d probably be quick to just call her.

No recent texts from Lindsay.

No recent calls.

In fact, there was no Lindsay in his contacts.

 “What the fuck?!” he called out, staring at the phone. This wasn’t possible. This shouldn’t be possible. His head felt like it was spinning. Something was happening, and for a moment, he could have sworn that this had happened before.The world was spinning around him. He was falling and he couldn’t stop himself. Michael wanted to scream, but he couldn’t, nothing would come out. His room became distorted, flashing in and out.

Suddenly, it stopped. Everything stopped. Michael tried to reach out to something to lean on, only his body wouldn’t move. Frowning, he tried to move his other arm. Nothing happened. He felt like he was trapped, only he couldn’t see anything trapping him.

“Welcome to the Realm, Michael,” a deep voice called, echoing around him. “I’m so sorry I had to bring you here, but I couldn’t have you ruining my plans.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry about the short chapter! I'm trying to get this story actually finished, because I plan on starting to update twice a week once it is. Thank you so much for reading the story!! If you have any questions, feel free to message me on my new side blog (inbetweennow)!


	7. In Which Lindsay Enters the Realm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After being taken from the real world and placed in the Realm, Lindsay is trying to understand what the hell is going on.

Lindsay rubbed her eyes as she woke up. Confusion hit her immediately. Where was she? This wasn’t her room. She looked around, panicking. The room was solid white, and seemingly small, and she was alone.  This wasn’t right, this wasn’t right at all.

“Hello, Ms. Tuggey,” a voice spoke. Lindsay flinched, looking wildly around. Where had the voice came from?

“Hello?” she called out, looking around. No one.

“Welcome to the Realm. We’re sorry that you have been brought here. Unfortunately, you have been on our radar for quite some time now, and, because of recent events, we were forced to take action. We understand you may feel scared or confused right now, but we ask that you wait for a representative to come to you, thank you,” the voice announced. Lindsay blinked a couple of times, completely confused by what was happening. On their radar? The Realm? What the hell was going on?

She tried to wrack her brains for something. Of course, her first thought was that she was having a dream. After all, this couldn’t possibly be real. Her next thought was that she was kidnapped, but she was sure she would remember something like that, so this _had_ to be a dream.

Lindsay got up, running her hand against the wall. If this was a dream, she should be able to control it, and surely that meant that there was a door somewhere. However, the surface was flat, and smooth. There  had to be a door somewhere though, she decided. Otherwise, there would have been no way for her to get in.

Just as she gave up, she heard a noise. Whipping her head around, she watched as a young woman walked into the room. Lindsay’s first thought was to take a mental note of where the exit was, however, it was closed just as soon as it was open. “Hello Ms. Tuggey, my name is Meg and I am your Keeper,” the woman introduced, a bright smile on her face. Lindsay continued to stare past her for a moment, still trying to remember where the door was. “I understand how alarming this must be for you, and it’s completely fine to be in shock,” she started. The words sounded rehearsed and forced, and Lindsay felt uncomfortable immediately. The women immediately start typing something on her tablet.

“What’s going on?” Lindsay asked, finally turning her attention to Meg. Meg smiled at her, as if pleased that she had asked this question.

“The Realm keeps all realities in the universe in check so that all realities of life runs smoothly. Normally, the Realm just observes each reality. However, occasionally, situations arise where the Realm must step in. People who weren’t supposed to exist are among these situations. When this happens, everything has to be corrected. Of course, cases like this can occasionally have no adverse effect on the reality, and can go unnoticed. Sadly, Ms. Tuggey, you were never meant to exist in this reality. In fact, as far as we can tell, you weren’t supposed to exist in any _future_ realities. We allowed you to stay in the current reality too long, and the Overseer has decided that you must join us in the Realm,” she paused, giving her a sad smile. Lindsay blinked a couple of times. Again, the words felt rehearsed, even a bit forced.

“You weren’t the first one we had to pull from the reality, but we believe you are the last one we have to extract. The current reality should now be corrected. Hopefully, everything will run smoothly now that you’re here,” she added, staring at Lindsay. The news hit Lindsay hard, and she immediately began to shake her head in disbelief.

“Haha, right. Sure. I’m ready to wake up now,” she muttered. She noticed something change slightly in Meg’s facial expression, but within seconds, Meg appeared cheerfully again.

“I’m sorry to tell you that this is not a dream,” she said. “As of 9:36 this morning, there is no trace of a Lindsay Tuggey ever existing. We have also ensured that this mistake will not occur again,” Meg paused, placing something on the wall.  “I’m going to now place you in your illusion. You’ll notice some distortion at first, but that should only last a few moments. This will be your new home. Please don’t try to leave the front door, it will not work,” she informed Lindsay, tapping on the thing that she placed on the wall. Lindsay shuffled forward slightly, curious to see what Meg was doing.

True to her word, the world around Lindsay started shifting, and the white room faded away. It was replaced with her bedroom, the very room she had been in before all of this happen. Maybe it had been a dream? “We believe that being in an environment such as this would be the best for you. You’re free to explore it whenever you’re ready,” Meg said. She watched as Meg relaxed slightly. Lindsay blinked, just staring at the other female. She wasn’t sure what to actually say to her. 

“I am sorry I had to bring you here, just so you know. I really didn’t want to do it,” Meg said. For the first time since they had begun talking, this was the first genuine thing that Lindsay felt came out of Meg. Lindsay just nodded.

There was a crash from another room, causing both her and Meg to flinch. “Damnit,” Meg muttered, rushing to open the door. Lindsay blinked, following behind Meg. Lindsay took a moment once she left the room, gaping. It really was her apartment. However, the more she studied the area, the more small changes she started to notice. Frowning, she walked towards where Meg had gone.

“You didn’t tell me things were going to be changing!” a male voice cried out. Lindsay peeked in, eyes settling on a man who was bent over a pile of broken glass. He suddenly looked up at her, and they met eyes. Lindsay felt everything freeze in her body, and it was almost as if she immediately recognized him. She had never met him before, but in that moment, it was almost as if she had seen him a million times. He looked at her with curious eyes, as if he was trying to figure something out. The world felt frozen in place, but in the corner of her eye, she could see Meg looking back and forth between the two of them

“I didn’t realize that the illusion was going to shift beside an additional bedroom,” Meg finally replied, turning to look at Lindsay. “Are you okay?” She asked. Lindsay tore her eyes from the man and nodded.

“You mean okay besides the fact that I’m suddenly here, yeah, sure I’m fine,” she snapped. Meg sighed, accepting the comment.

“This is Li-”She was caught off.

“Lindsay,” he finished, tilting his head. This caught Lindsay off guard, surprising her. How could he have known her name? Meg furrowed her eyebrows but nodded.

“Yeah that’s right,” she said. Lindsay stared at the man until suddenly, a named popped up in her head _Gavin_. Lindsay knew that was his name, but she couldn’t figure out why she knew it. Meg looked between the two of them again. “Um, Gavin, can I talk to you a minute,” she said, pulling on Gavin’s arm. The two of them disappeared, leaving Lindsay alone, feeling very confused. She peaked into the kitchen, taking a closer look at it. It felt very different, yet very similar to the kitchen at home.

The longer they were gone, the more curious she felt about everything. She started to explore more, noting things that she didn’t recognize. This was mostly minimal things, though she could understand why even the smallest thing changing could probably freak someone out. She noticed in the living room that the old recliner that Michael had been so reluctant to toss out was back. After a party gone wild, the recliner had met its untimely death, and they had gotten rid of it. Here though, it looked perfectly all right.

She heard someone coming up behind her. Lindsay turned slightly, eyes focusing on Gavin. The man was alone, and Meg was nowhere in sight. “Where’d she go?” Lindsay asked. Gavin shrugged.

“She said she had something to do and left suddenly,” he replied, moving around her to sit down. She followed reluctantly sitting on the couch. He was staring hard at him, as if interested, but he didn’t say anything.

“How’d you know my name?” Lindsay asked. Gavin looked hesitant, deciding not to mention the fact that she knew his name before being told.

“I’m not really sure? I felt like I knew you, and your name just came to me,” he replied. She nodded slowly, agreeing.

“I did too,” she admitted.

“It’s pretty weird, isn’t it? I feel like I’ve known you for a while, yet I’ve never met you before,” he continued, staring at her. She nodded again, eyes on him. There was so much she wished she knew, and she could only hope that eventually, it’d all make sense.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Sorry this is late! This weekend was move in weekend for my school, and honestly, the last couple of days have been a giant blur for me! I hope you all enjoy this and thank you so much for all the comments and kudos, it means so much to me!


	8. In Which Bonding Happens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lindsay and Gavin bond over being trapped in the Realm.

“Have you ever tried to escape? I know Meg said not to try, but there has to be a way out,” Lindsay sighed, staring at what appeared to be the front door. Gavin grimaced, glancing at the front door. They had been alone for several hours after Meg had suddenly rushed out of them.

“Go ahead and give it a try,” he muttered. Lindsay looked at him, quizzical. He knew what was going to happen, but he also knew it was better to let Lindsay figure it out on her own. He watched as Lindsay got up and hurried to the door. Unlocking it, she flung the door open. Gavin knew what she was seeing. He knew that Lindsay was going to fall for it. She took a step forward and left the room. “Ten…nine…eight…seven…six...five…four…three…two…one.” Gavin watched as Lindsay just reappeared in front of him. Like his first time, her eyes were clenched tight.

“Wha-What?!” She asked, looking around the room in disbelief. He couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Pretty much. It’s an endless cycle too. You go down the hall, whisked away, and then you end up here again. Though don’t do it too often because it annoys Meg, and she has to come to tell you to stop,” he explained.

Lindsay shook her head at him. “They surely can’t expect us to just stay here, can they?” she asked. Gavin snorted.

“Oh no, they expect it. I’ve been here a year, believe me, I’ve tried everything, literally _everything_ , and it always has the same ending, you end up back in the living room, and any progress you’ve made is gone,” he replied, lounging back on the couch. “It’s not so bad here, I mean, it’s absolute crap, but eventually you get used to it. Meg’s not too bad either, she takes the time to make sure you’re okay if you didn’t notice. She only appears to be a stone-cold bitch when the big guy upstairs is watching,” he laughed. He wasn’t sure how things went between Lindsay and Meg, but he hoped that Meg showed her true colors at some point.

_\--_

Lindsay had taken the time to wander around the apartment, randomly making comments about what was different and similar. She stopped at the dent in the wall, near the couch. “You know, I’ve always wondered about the dent on the wall. Michael didn’t have a clue about it when I asked about. Said it just always been there,” she said, staring at it closely. Gavin snorted loudly.

“It’s his own damn fault the dent is there. I told him to be careful with the couch when we were carrying it, but he went and dented the wall anyway. We got into a huge argument over it, drove Geoff mad for a couple of days because we refused to talk to each other, not even in videos, and when he found out we weren’t talking, he was pissed,” Gavin smiled fondly at the dent. “I think it added character to our apartment though,” he added. Lindsay stared at Gavin, almost to the point that he was becoming uncomfortable.

“What was Michael to you?” she asked softly. Gavin raised an eyebrow, amused she was even asking.

“I would think you’d know,” he said. The look on her face showed she did know. “He was my best friend, it just so happened we were dating too,” he paused, looking thoughtfully at the ceiling. “He was going to propose to me. I found the ring, and then I overheard him and Geoff planning, but then the Realm stopped it. Kind of think that must have been the case for you too,” he said, feeling slightly bitter as he thought about it. Bitter because he knew Michael had forgotten him. Bitter because for the first couple of months he had just thought about the what ifs. Bitter because he knew Lindsay was proof that Michael had moved on, whether he knew he was moving on or not.

“He was always mentioning something felt off, or that something felt missing,” Lindsay murmured, looking down. This caught Gavin’s attention. “I kind of felt that too. That there was supposed to be something or someone in our lives that wasn’t there. I guess you were that someone.”

They were quiet for awhile. He half expected Meg to show up, she usually did around this time, but he doubted she would. “I think you’re right, Michael was going to propose to me. He was acting differently this morning. He had this whole day planned out apparently,” she said sadly. Gavin wanted to be jealous, he wanted to be angry that he was trapped with the person Michael had moved on with, but it wasn’t her fault. It wasn’t Michael’s fault either.

He got up suddenly, leaving Lindsay alone in the living room. Walking to the fridge, he yanked it open. The fridge was fairly empty, but he knew he had one thing for sure. He reached in, grabbing two bottles of beer. He closed the fridge and quietly walked back to Lindsay. He outstretched his hand towards her, offering her one. She looked at the beer for a moment, before taking it. “I don’t have anything stronger left, but I think this just called for a bev, you know?”

Lindsay nodded, twisting the cap off. Gavin sipped on his beer. His mind felt overwhelmed. Previous thoughts he had shoved away were floating back. All the work he had done to accept he wasn’t leaving was just…gone and now suddenly he was having new thoughts and feelings about this person he barely even knew. He really needed a distraction.

“Do you want to watch a movie?” he asked. Lindsay raised an eyebrow.

“Sure, why not. I have forever, apparently,” she joked. Gavin set the beer down and got up.

“With any luck we…” he paused, flipping through the DVD cased. He felt excitement fill him as he realized there were more DVDs in the case than before. “Thank Christ,” he exclaimed, turning back to Lindsay. “More DVDs! Meg’s going to love this,” he grinned, looking at all the new titles. Some were movies he recognized, yet some were movies he had never heard of before.

He glanced at Lindsay, who looked very confused. “We only get the movies and video games that we physically had. All the digital things are gone, it’s been torture. There’s only so many times I can watch the same movies over and over again. Meg tried to pull strings, but it didn’t work,” he explained, flipping through the new DVDs. “Any objections to Jurassic World? Michael and I were supposed to go see it when it came out but I kind of disappeared before it was supposed to come out,” he asked, looking at Lindsay with hopeful eyes. She nodded eagerly.

“The Jurassic movies are easily a favorite. We should have all the Jurassic movies in that. I mean, I owned all of them on DVD,” she pointed out. Gavin flipped a page further, and his eyes went wide.

“You know what this means, right?” he asked.

“Jurassic movie marathon?” she asked. He grinned.

“Exactly.”

\--

Gavin clicked the tv off, a smile on his face. “Okay, so that was fantastic. Completely worth the wait,” he grinned. It was well into the night by the time they had finished the marathon. At one point, he had noticed Lindsay dozing off, though she seemed awake right then.

“I could easily watch that series over and over,” she added, stretching her arms out. The more time Gavin spent with Lindsay, the more confused he felt. There was something between them, yet he couldn’t figure out what. “I’m going to go to sleep,” she announced, getting up. Gavin nodded but didn’t move to get up himself.

He watched as she started to walk away. “Hey Gavin?” she said, turn back towards him.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for the distraction. I needed it.” With that, Lindsay walked off. Gavin reclined back in his chair, running his hand through his hair.

Eventually, Gavin dragged himself out of the chair and to his room. He briefly paused at his door, glancing across the hall. Before, it had simply just been a wall. Now it was a whole room. He stared at it for a couple more seconds, before turning back to open his door.

He half expected Meg to appear that night, but the longer he laid there, the more he realized that she wasn’t going to be coming. He frowned, rolling over onto his side. It was hard to sleep without her next to him, but eventually, he drifted off.

\--

_Gavin felt the familiar dip in the bed, which was usually followed by Michael pulling him close, but this time, nothing happened. Gavin opened his eyes, turning to face Michael. “Let’s go somewhere Gav,” Michael announced. Gavin frowned._

_“But Michael, I can’t,” he said, giving Michael a look. Michael laughed, stretching out his hand._

_“Yeah you can, idiot,” he said. Gavin looked at Michael hesitantly but took the hand. Suddenly, the world around them was changing. Gavin let out a soft gasp as he watched the room disappear from view. He knew he should be freaking out, he knew that this wasn’t normal, yet it didn’t bother him. After the last year, he wasn’t sure if anything would really bother him anymore. “Where should we go?” Michael asked. Gavin bit his lip. He wasn’t actually sure where he’d want to go. After a year of just being trapped in his home, he thought he’d know immediately, yet, he couldn’t think of anywhere he’d want to go._

_“Surprise me,” he finally said. Michael raised an eyebrow at him, looking kind of amused._

_“Anywhere then?” he asked. Gavin nodded. When the world stopped moving around them, everything came into focus. He was trying to understand where they stopped, but he couldn’t understand where they were. “I figure you’d want something outdoors, not indoors,” Michael announced as he started walking. Gavin had to admit, the idea of being outside did seem nice. He glanced up, and his heart skipped a beat._

_“Stars,” he said, astonished. It wasn’t that he had forgotten what stars looked like, he just hadn’t seen any for awhile. Michael stopped, nodding at him. He then led them towards a small hill, and the two of them walked up it slowly._

_At the top, he saw a blanket laid out and a cooler on the ground. Gavin let out a snort. “Were you hoping I wouldn’t know where to go?” he asked. Michael nodded._

_“I mean, I called it, didn’t I? You obviously didn’t know where you wanted to go,” he teased, going to lay on the blanket. “Figure stargazing and bevs would be pretty cool, right?” he asked. Gavin nodded. Yes, it wasn’t something they usually would have done, but he loved it._

_\--_

_They laid there for hours, enjoying the stars. The drinks were long gone, discarded to the side. Gavin hadn’t felt this alive in awhile. He knew the sun was coming up soon, and he figured that they would probably be leaving soon, but he wanted to enjoy every moment of this that he could. “The sun’s going to come up soon,” Michael said. Gavin grimaced, not sure what that meant for them._

_Michael sat up, motioning for Gavin to sit up. They leaned against each other. “I wish I didn’t have to go back,” Gavin murmured. Michael glanced over towards him, looking at him sympathetically. As the sun rose, the world around them started to fade out._

_Michael leaned in for one last kiss. “Love you Gav,” he hummed, and then he disappeared._

_\--_

Gavin woke up, though he instantly wished he could fall back asleep. He loved his Michael dreams. Although he knew that they were just dreams, it felt real. Every moment with Michael felt real. He’d give anything to just spend his time dreaming with Michael, even though he was starting to have a life in the illusion without him. Gavin would never admit that to Meg, of course. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her. Given the chance though, he knew, admittedly, he would probably take the chance to leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, guys! I managed to post this chapter on time this week! I really apologize for last week, but now that I'm settled into my apartment and know how my class schedule is going to go in the future, I should be able to get posts out sooner! I just wanted to let everyone know if they ever want to do a request for prompts or anything or wanted something more than what I post in updates, just shoot me an ask to either my fic blog (inbetweennow) or my main blog (anotherachievement) and I'll happily fill any prompt! If you have any questions or anything let me know !! Thanks so much for all the love you've all been giving to the story, I really appreciate it honestly!!


	9. Meg's Discovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meg is starting to question what's going on in the Realm, so she does a bit of digging, only to find out that things aren't exactly as they seem.

Meg stared at the ceiling, mind reeling as she tried to process everything that had happened. Something wasn’t adding up, and the more she tried to figure out, the less she understood. How could Gavin possibly know Lindsay, especially since he didn’t exist when she was in the picture. She let out a long sigh, rolling onto her side. Maybe it was just a coincidence, maybe they had met before , before Gavin had been erased, but that didn’t add up either, since Gavin claimed he had no idea who she as. 

It was getting to her. The more she tried to fall asleep, the more awake she felt. “Damnit,” she muttered to herself, slowly sitting up. Maybe it was because she wasn’t sleeping next to Gavin that night. Maybe she couldn’t sleep because it felt wrong to sleep without him. Still, the last thing she figured she should do is sleep with Gavin the first day Lindsay was there. She pulled herself out of bed, shuffling towards the door.

She wandered around her apartment, mind still trapped on the day’s events. “Kae,” she called out, waiting for her AI to respond.

“Hi Meg, what can I do for you tonight,” the artificial intelligence replied.

“Please pull up the history of Free, Gavin and Tuggey, Lindsay,” she ordered to her AI. When she had initially been given the AI, she had been reluctant to use it. It had little to no personality, which absolutely frustrated Meg. Eventually though, she had figured out how to change the settings, even name it. Soon enough, Kae had somewhat of a personality, and Meg had found herself enjoying the company of the AI.

As she waited for Kae to pull up the files, she set out to make coffee. Having not been able to enjoy her coffee previously, and now on a set course that was sure to make her loose even more sleep, coffee seemed like the best idea.

When she settled down with her coffee, various screens started popping up in front of her.

“I have found all files pertaining Mr. Free and Ms. Tuggey, is there anything else I could assist you with?” she asked. Meg shook her head, staring straight at the documents in front of her. Taking a deep breath, she choose one at random. She found reading about their lives to be interesting, even though she felt slightly guilty as if she was reading into something that was private. It felt like there were almost too many scenarios of the ways they had found each other. Sometimes Gavin hated Lindsay at first, usually out of jealousy, and often, it was Lindsay who hated Gavin, but they always ended up together in every reality that they were apart of, whether Michael was part of it or not. She almost felt that it was touching how it always ended up pretty well for the couples.

However, as she started reaching older files, she started to become uncomfortable. She discovered there used to be a fourth person in the equation, however, it seemed that whoever this person was, someone didn’t want her to know, because every time she dug deeper, she just received ‘UNKNOWN’ and ‘ERROR.’ “Kae?” she called out.

“Yes, Meg?” Kae replied.

“Can you find out who this unknown person is and look at how many of these files contain information about this unknown person?” She asked. There was silence as she assumed that Kae was filing through the information.

“I cannot decode who this person is. It appears that you currently do not have the clearance to view this person identity, therefore I do not have the clearance to view it either,” she replied. “However, there appear to be over a thousand mentions of this person, would you like me to jump to each file for you?” she offered. Meg shook her head.

“No, please just give me the cliff notes version,” she asked.

“Very well. It seems that this person was introduced into all of the realities at the same time as Ms. Tuggey, Mr. Free, and Mr. Jones. They appear as a constant member of the group, and had been with each of them several times throughout all of the realities, and had been with the other three members numerous times. However, it seems like there was an issue, causing them to disappear. It appears that they have entered the Realm a couple of cycles back from the current cycle, and have not appeared since,” the AI explained. Meg stared at the files in front of her, both horrified and curious at the same time. Someone else was in the realm? She felt her stomach churning, realizing that this hadn’t helped ease her mind of the situation at all, besides the fact that it did help her understand. “Will that be all for you, Meg?”

Meg swallowed, nodding. “Yes, thank you. Please shut down all files,” she announced. She stared out, wondering if it would be possible for her to find this person. There had to be some way to discover them, she knew there had to be.

The longer she thought about it, the more mentally exhausted she found herself becoming. Slumping on the couch, she found herself drifting off to sleep.

-

_ She laced her fingers with her lover’s fingers, pressed tightly between the other two. Lindsay was running her free hand through Meg’s hair, while Gavin pressed tiny kisses on her shoulder. She was in absolute heaven. _

_ “What the fuck guys, you’re all starting without me?” a voice growled. The three looked up, smirking at their other lover. _

_“’Course we did. You were taking too damn long,”_ _Gavin spoke up. Michael rolled his eyebrows, approaching the bed. He glanced around for a moment trying to figure out where he was going to get in on, however, in the end, he just slipped next to Lindsay._

_ “Whatever, just means I get Meg all to myself later,” he announced, leaning over Lindsay to lean in for a kiss. Meg eagerly kissed back, before looking between Lindsay and Gavin, who didn’t seem to react. _

_ “That’s fine, Gavin and I had plans anyways,” Lindsay teased. Gavin gave an amused smirk, nodding eagerly. The four of them cuddled closely. _

_ “So, what are we doing today?” Meg asked. She could literally feel her partners shrugging against her. _

_ “I vote we be lazy today,” Lindsay pipped up. Gavin snorted. _

_ “I second that,” he replied. All eyes fell on Michael, who let out a long sigh. _

_ “You guys are just saying that because none of you want to clean up shit,” he groaned. Lindsay just nodded, not even denying it. “Fine, whatever, we can clean tomorrow,” he groaned. Meg listened in amusement as both Lindsay and Gavin cheered. _

_ Meg propped herself up. “I’m starving though, so I’m going to grab something to eat. You guys want something?” She asked. The other three voiced their approval, and Michael announced that he’d go help her. The two of them got up, leaving Lindsay and Gavin in bed. Michael quietly joked about what the two would get up to as they were gone. “Yeah, but let’s be real, Lindsay will probably just go back to sleep,” Meg pointed out. _

_ Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a bright light flash briefly, before fading away. She tilted her head, and told Michael she’d be back, going to investigate where the flash appeared. Michael just shrugged, continuing on to the kitchen. Her heart started racing, and something felt off. _

_ Suddenly she felt an arm on her shoulder. Letting out a loud gasp, she felt the world begin to spin around her. She looked around, horrified at what was going on. Everything was twisting around, and her apartment quickly disappeared. _

_ Suddenly, she was in a white room. The room felt small, slightly crowded, and it didn’t appear to have a single splash of color. She felt a panic and confusing racing through her. A door slowly opened, and a man entered. Her eyes widened as she immediately recognized him. _

_ “Hello Meg,” the man said, pausing to smile at her. “Welcome to the Realm.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I'm really glad that people are still sticking with me. I have WTTR all the way written now, and we're about halfway through the whole story. That being said, I do plan on updating twice a week starting next week. There will be an update on Wednesdays and Fridays! I'm in the process of starting the sequel to WTTR right now because I wanted it to be a two parter, and I've actually written a prequel set in the view point of the Overseer and it sheds more light on the Realm and why the Overseer does what he does, but I can't start posting that until WTTR is finished posting because it'd give away everything. As always, i'm more than willing to answer any questions!! Thanks for taking the time to read everything and I appreciate all the kudos and comments i've gotten!!


	10. Catching Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything catches up to Lindsay. It's up to Gavin and Meg to help her feel better.

Lindsay’s emotions didn’t catch up to her until she had been in the realm for a week. Of course, the week was mostly just a blur and consisted of her asking Meg and Gavin multiple questions such as; “Is there any way to leave?” or “What exactly are we supposed to do here?”. Meg had been patient with her, taking her time to explain that there wasn’t a way out, that as much as she hated to say it, they were stuck. So Lindsay had decided to observe. She followed around Gavin, watching his routine (much to his annoyance). She started to notice how often Meg hung around, and she could have sworn there were days when Meg never left. She noticed how close Meg and Gavin were, how the two of them seemed to cling to each other when the other was around. At one point, although she couldn’t understand why she began to feel jealous and left out. There was something in her tell her that she should be with them.

Then Sunday came, or at least, she thought it was Sunday. The emotions hit her hard. She couldn’t find the energy to get out of bed. She felt a pressure weighing down on her, forcing her to stay still. She curled up, back facing the door.

Lindsay wondered what Michael was doing right then. She even wondered what he co-workers were doing. A part of her hoped that Meg was lying when she said no one would remember her. She hoped that Michael was out looking for her. She hoped that her co-workers were worried about why she wasn’t coming into work.

She knew though. She knew that Michael probably forgot and moved on with his life, and that there was probably no trace of her ever working. She knew because Gavin told her. She knew because Michael and their friends had never mentioned a Gavin, so they probably forgot about her too. She wondered if her parents mourned the loss of a daughter they never had.

Lindsay wanted to resent Meg. She wanted to hate Meg for doing this to her, but she couldn’t. She knew Meg didn’t do this on purpose. It had only taken two days because Lindsay had truly understood that.

There was a soft knock on the door, but Lindsay didn’t move.

“Lindsay?” Meg called out softly. She ignored her. There was another soft knock. “I’m going to ope-” Meg must have been cut off because Lindsay could hear Gavin speaking.

“We probably should leave her alone, love,” he said. There was silence for a moment before she heard her door slowly creak open. Obviously, Lindsay realized, Meg wasn’t listening. Lindsay didn’t move, back still facing away from the two.

“Gavin’s right,” she finally said, turning over slowly. “I honestly just want to be alone right now.”

Meg froze, hand reached out. Lindsay watched as Meg’s hand dropped.

“Oh. Right. We’ll um, be in Gavin’s room if you need either one of us,” she replied, looking guilty.

Lindsay didn’t respond again, just turning over again to face the wall. Her door eventually closed.

\--

The next day wasn’t any better. She felt too numb to even think. She knew at some point, Meg had come in, placing down a sandwich for her. Lindsay ignored the food as long as she could, and even when she eventually broke down and ate it, she didn’t feel hungry.

Then the tears came. She couldn’t help it, they just kept coming and coming. She wanted Michael, no, she  _ needed _ Michael. Again she started wondering what she could do to get back to him. She wondered what it would take to escape. She knew the door didn’t work. There had to be some way, she knew there had to be. A single thought popped into her head, but as she began to think about the dark option, she felt her throat tightening. There was no way she could possibly do that to herself.

Feeling even more hopeless, she resumed sobbing. There was a small knock on the door and she heard it open. “Lindsay?” Meg said softly. Again, Lindsay didn’t respond. She could hear footsteps approaching her bed. “I know you want to be alone right now, but I can’t bring myself to do that,” Meg admitted, waiting for a few moments. “I won't talk but um, I know having someone there for you can help,” she continued. Lindsay swallowed. She let out a soft sigh.

Meg was right. After being there for two days, she did want someone there. She moved slightly, allowing Meg space in the bed. Meg seemed to understand because moments later, Lindsay felt the bed dip down next to her. Taking a deep breath, she rolled over to face Meg. Meg looked at her sympathetically. Lindsay glanced over her shoulder, spotting Gavin hovering by the door. Hesitating for a moment, Lindsay beckoned Gavin over. He looked hesitant himself but climbed over the two of them.

The room was silent, at least for a moment.

“I didn’t leave the bed at first. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it, you know? When I tried to escape, and there’s no escape, you saw that. I tried other things, things I don’t think I could ever admit, but you always end up back in the living room. There are still some days when I still struggle with it,” Gavin said softly. “But…eventually it just turns into numbness. You have to take each day as it comes, and as shitty as it is, you just have to eventually accept it,” he said softly. The words shouldn’t have comforted her, but his words made her feel slightly comforted.

She looked at the two of them. “Could you both stay with me tonight?” she asked. Gavin looked over to Meg, looking fairly reluctant to answer. Meg gave a small smile.

“If that’s what you really want,” she replied. At that point, Lindsay wasn’t entirely sure what she wanted, but she nodded.

“I’m going to change then?” Meg announced, sliding off the bed. Gavin followed after her, leaving Lindsay alone on the bed once more.

Lindsay couldn’t understand her desire to have someone next to her, let alone both of them. She couldn’t understand the connection she felt, but right then, it almost felt right to have them both there. The two of them returned eventually, reclaiming their spots in the bed. As they settled, Lindsay felt relaxed, something that she really hadn’t felt for a while since she entered the Realm.

\--

At some point, Lindsay woke up. She quickly realized that being in the middle meant she was trapped inside the tangled limbs of the other two. She gave a small smile she appreciated the moment. This was something she needed, something she needed more than she knew. Maybe she shouldn’t feel so happy about it since they were still practically strangers, but she trusted Gavin and Meg. With a smile still on her lips, Lindsay eventually fell back asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! As promised, here is the Wednesday update! I'll update again on Friday. I hope everyone is having a good week and if you have any questions just hit me up here or on my blog (inbetweennow)! Thank you so much for all the love you've all given to this story!!


	11. Hearing Voices

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin and Lindsay bond even more, and something happens to Gavin that makes him very concerned.

Gavin’s eyes fluttered open. At first, he couldn’t figure out where he was. He knew that this wasn’t his bed, it couldn’t be, it felt too different. He started to turn over when he realized someone was practically attached to his back. Gently he turned over, trying to see who it was. He came face to face with Lindsay. He blinked a couple of times, memories of the previous night starting to come through.  _ Oh _ . Reluctantly, he started to slide away, but this only woke her up. “Morning…” he murmured. She yawned slightly.

“Morning…” she replied, her eyes blinking open. Gavin stared at her. Neither of them said anything, just stared. Admittedly, he didn’t want to really move. Lindsay licked her lips. “I, uh, thank you for last night. I didn’t realize how much I needed it. I mean, I know it is kind of weird and all, but it was nice to have someone sleeping next to me?” she rambled. He gave an understanding nod.

“Honestly? I get it. When Meg and I started sleeping together, it felt comfortable? I needed it, I missed it. I can’t sleep nights that she isn’t sleeping next to me, most of the time anyway,” he replied, not daring to mention the Michael dreams.  Lindsay looked away slightly.

“I can see why,” she murmured. They continued lying next to each other for another couple minutes before Lindsay sat up. “Want to do something? As nice as it is to just lay here, I kind of want to get up and do something.”

Gavin shrugged. “Why not. What’d you have in mind?” Gavin replied. Lindsay seemed to just sit there thinking for a bit.

“Meg told me how you guys are always playing Mario Kart and party, which I absolutely love, but I don’t think I want to play that without her, so I figure why not a board game?” she said. Gavin raised his eyebrow.

“What game?” he asked. She looked mischievously at him.

“Why don’t you make breakfast and I’ll set up the game. It’ll be a surprise,” she smirked.

He knew this had to be a trap. There was no way that this was going to end well, but he figured, why not.

“Fine, go set it up, and I’ll make something.”

\--

Gavin quickly realized that it was a trap. As he carried out poorly made eggs and toast, he found that she had set up Monopoly. He let out a long disapproving groan as he saw it. “You’ve got to be shitting me,” he groaned, setting the plates down.

“Listen, it was either this or Uno, and I’m in no mood for more Uno hell,” she replied. “Since I haven’t played Monopoly in awhile, I figured it’s time to be in Monopoly hell,” she replied cheerfully.

\--

“Oh damn, looks like you landed on my hotel, must suck to be you,” she teased. Gavin frowned, looking at what he had. He didn’t have enough money left to pay up, but he didn't want to mortgage another property. “Though I might be able to forget all the money you owed me if you gave me Boardwalk,” she offered. Gavin glanced at the property, thinking about the offer for a moment.

“ _ Lindsay, _ ” he whined. She just smirked at him.

“Well, I guess I might be able to offer up some kind of trade. Give me Shortline and Reading railroad, plus promise to cook dinner this week, and no, you can’t ask Meg to help you or have her do it for you,” she offered. Gavin scrunched up his nose. Giving her the railroads meant she had control of all the railroads, but he refused to give up Boardwalk. Shaking his head, he tossed over the rail roads, grimacing as she eagerly placed them next to her other controlled railroads.

Gavin could tell he was going to lose, unless he some how managed to get a hotel on Boardwalk. As he rolled the dice for his turn, he looked at her thoughtfully. “A million dollars,” he stared, thinking carefully. Lindsay looked up at him, curious. “But every morning when you woke up, you’d have to put yourself completely back together,” he said, looking at her. “Would you take it?”

Lindsay was carefully thinking. “Well, that depends. If I shared said Million with you, would you help me put myself together and would I have a time limit? Or could I just take all day to do it. I mean, it’d give me something to do?” she said. Gavin shook his head.

“Nope, I wouldn’t be able to help because if I took the money from you, I’d be in the same predicament. Also yes, you’d have to get it all done in two hours. Whatever you don’t get put back together wouldn’t be usable for the whole day, and once you’ve placed a part, it's stuck there for the whole day too,” he said. She wrinkled her nose.

“So if you took the money, and we both fell apart, there’s a fifty percent chance I’d get stuck with your nose for a day?” she asked. Gavin furrowed his brow.

“I guess technically, yes, you would, if you ended up picking up my nose, you’d be stuck with it for that day,” he sighed.

“Nope, I’ll do a solid pass on the million dollars. Too much work, and way too much risk. Can’t even spend it anyways. Unless the Realm has a secret shopping center that Meg hasn’t informed me of,” she said, lightly smiling. Gavin just rolled his eyes, pretending to be annoyed by her jab at his nose, but in the end, he just laughed. 

“Maybe we should ask her about that when she wakes, ”he said. “Though I think maybe I’m to the point I just want to see something besides the apartment.”

Lindsay grinned. “Yeah, I’d love to see something other than this apartment too,” she admitted.

At some point, Meg had shown up, watching the game between the two of them. He noticed that Meg spent more time cheering for Lindsay than him. “Come on Turney, you’re supposed to be cheering for me,” he groaned. Meg shook her head.

“Clearly she’s beating your ass, so I’m team Lindsay,” she teased.

“See if I cheer for you in anything again,” Gavin muttered.

Eventually, the game came to an end, Gavin losing terribly. He was completely bankrupt and practically propertyless. Of course, he came across her most expensive property, and he had to fork up Boardwalk. Meg and Lindsay cheered out.

“Did I tell you he has to cook dinner every day this week?” Lindsay smirked. Meg raised an eyebrow.

“I think that’s something I can get into,” she teased Gavin.

Gavin rolled his eyes. “Right then, I’m going to go over there,” he said, pointing in a random direction in frustration.

“Aww, Gavvy’s a sore loser,” Linsday hummed.

Gavin shook his head, walking off.

\--

‘ _ Come one, you could have won that, Gav _ ’

Gavin’s eyes widened as he looked around. He was alone.

“Michael?” he asked, still trying to find where the voice came from.

‘ _ Who else, idiot? _ ’

Gavin swallowed hard.

“Where are you?”

‘ _ Where do you think? _ ’

Gavin blinked. He got up quickly, moving towards the door.

‘ _ They can’t hear me, _ ’

Gavin stopped, hand on the doorknob. Was Michael in his head?

‘ _ Course I am. Don’t tell the other two though, _ ’

Gavin blinked, hand dropping. “But why just me, Michael? I’m sure Lindsay would love to hear you too…” he said softly.

‘ _ Because you’re my boi, Gav. _ ’ Michael replied. Gavin blinked, slightly concerned. It was one thing when he started having ultra realistic dreams about Michael, but now he was hearing Michael’s voice in his head? ‘ _ You’re not going crazy, idiot. _ ’

Gavin swallowed hard. Maybe Michael said it wasn’t crazy, but what sane person heard their boyfriend who couldn’t even remember him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I hope you enjoy this chapter! We have about seven chapters left, which is both sad and exciting at the same time. I already have another story to post after this that will explain this chapter and all future chapters! As always i'm more than willing to answer any questions and I hope you guys all have a good weekend !!


	12. Joining the Illusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meg makes a realization and makes a really big decision.

If Meg was being honest with herself, she’d find it weird how quickly the three of them felt comfortable around each other. She fit perfectly against Lindsay when they cuddled on the couch, and they seemed to be in sync with everything. There was some kind of pull there, she knew there had to be.

Meg thought back to before she had met Lindsay. She thought about all the times she had dreamed of a mysteriously gorgeous woman she had never met. Lindsay, Meg realized, was literally the woman of her dreams.

After the first night of them sleeping together, it seemed like everything changed. It became a routine. Of course, the more Meg slept with them, the more dreams she had centered around them, dreams that felt a just a bit too real. She was to the point that she was starting to question if they were real.

Meg startled slightly when she felt someone crawl into bed next to her. She immediately recognized the fresh scent of Lindsay’s shampoo, causing her to smile. “Gavin’s coming soon, he just jumped in the shower,” Lindsay explained. Meg just nodded, snaking her arm around Lindsay. Unsurprisingly, Lindsay curled up in her embrace, which led Meg to smile even more.

When Gavin eventually joined them, Lindsay was already asleep. Gavin slipped in next to Meg, wrapping his own arms around her, much like she had down with Lindsay. Meg relaxed as she listened to the two people slowly breathing next to her. She realized this was something. Even if her dreams weren’t real, even if she wasn’t supposed to be with them, this was something, and she was more than content with what she had.

\--

_ “You look beautiful,” Lindsay whispered in Meg's ear. Meg smiled, turning to hug her girlfriend. _

_ “Thanks,” she beamed, looking over Lindsay. “Though you look even better than me,” she pointed out. Lindsay rolled her eyes. _

_ “Yeah, sure, how about no?” she replied. _

_ Meg could feel her heart racing. Today was the day. Today, everything was going to be official. “Can you believe we’re all getting married. I mean, I wish it was all of us together, but I guess this is better than nothing, right?” she hummed, messing with her hair, trying to make sure it was perfect. _

_ “Maybe we should change it up. Yell surprise, and I’ll marry you. Gav can just marry Michael, it’d still be the same,” Lindsay joked. Meg raised an eyebrow, an idea popping into her head. _

_ “Give me a minute, and I’ll make that happen,” she winked, whipping out her phone. Lindsay’s eyes went wide, surprised, mouth in the shape of a big ‘O’. Meg hurried out of the room, a stupid smile on her face as she dialed Michael’s number. _

_ “Hey, Michael? How do you feel about marrying Gavin instead of Linds?” _

_ \-- _

Meg’s eyes opened, and she felt happiness seeping through her. The dream had felt even more real than the last few dreams she had been having. Of course, it didn’t feel nearly as real as the dream that she had about entering the Realm, but it felt real.

“What’s got you smiling?” Lindsay asked. Gavin popped his head over Meg’s shoulder, investigating it himself. Meg hesitated, wondering if she should actually tell them her theory.

“I think…I figured something out,” she admitted, yawning. Lindsay and Gavin seemed to be immediately interested in what she was saying. “But first, coffee,” she announced, sitting up. It was a task, separating herself from the two bodies, but eventually, she escaped. Mg stared at Gavin and Lindsay until the two pulled themselves out of bed. She led the way to the kitchen, making a beeline towards the coffee machine.

Meg eventually settled down on the couch, curled up between Gavin and Lindsay. She held the steaming cup of coffee in her hands, studying it as she thought of how to explain everything. “So here’s the thing. When I was ordered to bring Lindsay here, I thought it was a bit weird. After all, both times I had to go to the real world and get the two of you, the Overseer “claimed” that the two of you had been on his radar. Then, somehow, Gavin knew who Lindsay was without either of you ever meeting. It honestly just really threw off, so I looked into it,” she paused to take a sip of coffee. Meg didn’t dare look at the other’s, not wanting to feel or see the judgment they were probably going to give her.

“I found out that you’ve always been connected to each other in each of your past lives. Sometimes you were together, sometimes you weren’t, but there was always some kind of connection between the two of you and Michael. Curiosity got the better of me, and I started to dig more. When I found out that there used to be a fourth person in the whole relationship equation, but it seems like they were just erased. There’s literally no record of them or who they were. When I searched for who this person could possibly be, it just pops up with errors and unknowns. After that, everything started getting weirder. That night, I had a dream where I was with the three of you. It was weirdly cute, and I just felt like I was on the top of the world. But then suddenly, I was being pulled away, and the Overseer was welcoming me to the Realm.”

Lindsay and Gavin stared at her, neither saying anything. “I know it might sound crazy, but sometimes, well, lately, I’ve been wondering if maybe I was that fourth person,” she said softly. “Last night I had another ultra-realistic dream, and I just thought, maybe it is real.”

Lindsay looked at her for a moment, looking as though she wanted to say something, but was reluctant to do so. “When I was a kid, I used to have amazing dreams about these people going on all these adventures, and I just thought it meant that I was a really imaginative child. I stopped having them when I got older and forgot about them. Ever since we started to sleep together though, I’ve been having dreams again though, I just didn’t want to say anything because I didn’t want to freak anyone out,” Lindsay admitted. Meg felt relieved that she wasn’t the only one having dreams. Both sets of eye’s turned onto Gavin, who just shrugged.

“Everyone seems to find each other, no matter what obstacles are thrown at us. If I really am part of all of it, then I guess I just wasn’t that easy to find since I didn’t exist. Seems like you both somehow found me anyways though,” Meg hummed, softly, looking between the two of them.

Gavin was quiet, apparently thinking hard. “You know, this is kind of a lot to take in,” he admitted. Lindsay nodded.

“Yeah, it really is. It does answer a lot of questions though,” she added. Meg let out a sigh, because, yes, it was a lot to process, especially for her.

\--

There was something that felt weird about the fact that she got to leave the illusion, but then again, she realized, she was leaving one illusion for another. The downside to realizing the truth meant that everything she knew was a lie.

It felt good to share what she learned though, and for it to have been so accepted. It felt even better to know that she was real, and wasn’t just a part of the realm. The more she thought about it, the more she realized everything should have bothered her. She had never seen another keeper in her life, which made her constantly wonder if she was even real. Knowing that she potentially was the missing part in the relationship with Michael, Gavin, and Lindsay made her feel real.

Meg stared at her “home”. The sad thing, she realized, was that it wasn’t even “home” to her anymore. No, she felt like Gavin and Lindsay’s place in the realm was more like a home than anything. She realized that she would much rather be permanently in the illusion with them. Meg couldn’t help but wonder if that was even possible. She wondered if she could convince the Overseer that it was a good idea for her to be in there. Nodding to herself, she took a breath. It was worth a try.

“Kae?”

“Yes, Meg?” The AI replied.

“Request a meeting with the Overseer for me.”

“I’ll do that right away, Meg. Is there anything else you need help with?” it asked.

“No, that’s all.”

Almost immediately, Meg was being jerked away from her home and to the very familiar location, she was always taken to when she met with the Overseer. “You requested to see me?” he asked. Meg nodded, forcing herself to appear confident and not nervous.

“I was wondering if I could be permanently placed in the illusion shared by Mr. Free and Ms. Tuggey. I believe that sharing an illusion with them would be easier for me to observe them, as I would be around them all the time,” she explained. The Overseer chuckled, which partially alarmed Meg. She couldn’t help but wonder if he knew that she knew the truth.

“Is that the only reason you want to be there, Meg?” he asked. Meg felt a lump in her throat immediately form. He knew.

“Yes sir, like I said, I believe that it would be easier, and I believe I’ll get my reports in quicker and more frequently,” she replied, praying he would just accept her bullshit.

“I also believe it would be easier, for all of us,” he paused, letting the silence hang between them. “Very well. Your quarters are now a part of the illusion,” he informed her. Meg blinked, surprised about how easy that had been. Maybe too easy.

“Thank you, sir, I promise you won’t regret this,” she promised. The man let out another string of chuckles, sending shivers through Meg’s body.

“Oh I know I won’t, just like I know you won’t disappoint me,” he hummed in a reply as he started to fade out. “Oh, and Meg? Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

Before she could process his words, everything was once again twisting around her until she was back in the shared illusion. Despite the uncomfortable feeling filling her, she beamed, glancing around. As if it had always been there, a door stood proudly on the wall between Gavin and Lindsay’s rooms. Deep down, she knew that she had just confirmed her own imprisonment in the realm, but right then, she could care less. She was going to be with Gavin and Lindsay forever, and the idea of that made her happy enough to not care.


	13. Dates and Forts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lindsay decides she wants to plan a date and gets Gavin involve.

When Meg disappeared to her home, Lindsay had made a quick decision. All morning she couldn’t help but think about what Meg had said about the four of them have always been together. It did explain some of the dreams she used to have before even arriving to the realm, though she would never admit to it. “Let’s surprise Meg,” she hummed out, setting a mug into the sink. Gavin let out a small groan when he saw the mug, but looked up from the dishes, raising an eyebrow.

“How exactly do you want to surprise her?” he asked, curiously staring at her. Lindsay beamed, happy to see that Gavin seemed to be at least somewhat on board already.

“Let’s build a fort. I know it’s childish, but forts can be fun! It’d be like a sleepover, just different than our usual sleepover. We could watch something and play games. We could all cook dinner together, and eat whatever junk food we still have. I think it would be nice to do something all together, like a date, but not a date since we’re not all dating,” she explained. “It’d be different too, like I know we all watch movies and play games whenever, but it’d be a change,” she shrugged.

Gavin looked at her, almost amused. “I don’t think I’ve built a fort since I was ten,” he replied, going back to washing dishes. “But it would be fun, especially the part where all of us cook and it’s not just me cooking tonight.”

Lindsay hummed cheerfully, happy that Gavin didn’t reject her idea. “We’ll have to ask Meg if she wants to define it as a date,” he added softly after washing a few dishes. Lindsay tilted her head, wondering if that meant that Gavin was willing to call it a date. The three of them hadn’t actually sat down and talked about that yet. She had figured out fairly quickly that Meg and Gavin were a thing, though it had been pretty obvious pretty quick.

Lindsay leaned against the counter, watching as Gavin finished.  She was just grateful that it hadn’t been her week to do them, though admittedly, she felt sort of bad that she had made Gavin do dinner too, that was only a small part of her. Gavin wiped his hands on a dish towel, turning to her. “I’m just going to assume that you’ve made a fort in recent history and you’re going to lead the way?” he asked.

Lindsay nodded eagerly. “Go get all the bedding out of the room. I’ll get it from my room, and then we’ll see what we need afterward,” she cheered. Sure, she felt like a kid doing that, but the fact that Gavin was willing to humor her made her happy.

\--

It took several attempts to make the fort not collapse the moment they crawled in, or when they tried to add anything, but after awhile, they had a fort. It wasn’t perfect, not by a long shot, but she loved it. They popped several bags of popcorn, filling two fairly large bowels. Gavin had snuck a few beers inside, not that Lindsay cared. It didn’t take long for the two of them to realize that there weren't that many snacks available for them, but they made do with what they had.

The two of them crawled into the fort, deciding to officially try it out. As they settled down, Lindsay couldn’t help but think about how cozy this would be with Meg. She wondered if the four of them had done this in this past, but then again, she couldn’t help but wonder if they had done a lot of things. Sure, she had dreams. She had a lot of dreams, she just never realized what they had meant. She desperately wished that there was a way for them to leave, to get a chance to see Michael again. She wanted the four of them to be together again, but she knew that she at least had Gavin and Meg to keep her company.

“What do you think Michael’s doing right now?” Lindsay sighed. Gavin turned towards her, snorting.

“Knowing Michael? Potentially yelling at something or someone. Or eating some Jersey Mikes,” he laughed, though looking fairly sad at the thought. He was quiet for some time, thinking hard. “We would have eventually met, you and me. I’m sure we would have all probably hit it off. I’m sure Geoff would have hated us because we’d be the most annoying people in the office,” he mused, grinning.

“Oh yeah, for sure. Michael and I drove Geoff off the wall, I can’t even imagine to begin to think about what would happen if it was the three of us,” she laughed, thinking fondly about Geoff. “I wonder what the rest of them are doing right now too.”

“Well, Geoff’s probably reading the whole library and telling everyone to stop messing around. Ryan is probably still making his world domination plan, one cow at a time. Jack’s probably building a house or something, and Jeremy probably is dying his hair another color,” he replied, not taking any time to even hesitate.  Lindsay smiled sadly. They probably were.

\--

When Lindsay heard a door close, she promptly nudged Gavin. “She’s back!”

The two of them crawled out, standing outside of the fort, looking very proud of what they had done. Well, Lindsay was, she hadn’t looked over towards Gavin, but she assumed he was too. When Meg came into the room, Lindsay saw two emotions, excited and then quickly amused. “What the hell did you make,” she asked, laughing slightly.

“A fort, duh,” Lindsay said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“It’s pretty comfortable, Meg, I can confirm,” Gavin pipped up. Meg nodded, amused.

“Right, I believe you,” she hummed, leaning against a wall. Lindsay stared at her, waiting.

“Why don’t you go in, since you obviously don’t believe us,” Lindsay teased. Meg shrugged, dropping to her knees. She crawled between the two of them, and Lindsay watched as she disappeared. Following Meg’s example, she crawled in, motioning for Gavin to follow.

She settled in next to Gavin, with Meg on the other side. Like she had suspected, it was fairly comfortable with the three of them in there. “Okay, I have to admit, I was skeptical, but this is nice,” Meg admitted. “I do have news, I think it probably makes this even better.”

Lindsay leaned up, resting her chin on Gavin’s shoulder, looking at Meg curiously. “Yes?”

Meg looked at the two of them, a smile spreading over her face. “I now officially live in this illusion. I have my own area that you two are can’t go into, but the Overseer allowed me to stay with the two of you,” she hummed. Both Lindsay and Gavin’s eyes shot open, surprised.

“Are you kidding?” Gavin asked, looked the most excited out of the two. Meg shook her head.

“So wait, that means you would be disappearing randomly outside of the illusion?” Lindsay asked. Meg nodded quickly.

“I wanted to be here all the time,” she replied. Lindsay gave a quiet cheer, leaning all the way over to Gavin to give Meg a hug.

\--

“So…I was wondering,” Lindsay started, looking to Gavin. He waved his hand, trying to encourage her. “I already talked to Gavin, and I was just wondering if you were maybe okay with calling this a date. If you don’t want to, that’s fine. I just figured maybe, if you were okay with it, it could be. You know, if we’re all supposed to be together and all, and the three of us are stuck here together. I know that’s not really how it’s supposed to work, and I know you and Gavin are a thing, bu-” She rambled before Meg cut her off.

“Lindsay, I’m okay with it, okay? I don’t mind calling this a date at all, and I think it’s nice you wanted to do this,” Meg replied, giving her a soft smile. Lindsay just nodded, cheeks flushed. “I have to admit, even before it was all confirmed and all, and after the night we all slept together, I told Gavin I kind of liked the idea of the three of us, and when I realized the connection, I wanted it even more, and honestly, you didn’t have to go to this much effort, but I think it’d cute, and honestly, you made me really happy,” she explained. Lindsay stared at Meg, slightly in disbelief. Then she turned to Gavin, narrowing her eyes.

“Wait so you knew this whole time that Meg would want it to be a date,” she asked. Gavin shrugged, but the smirk on his lips told her otherwise. “You suck. I thought she probably would say no,” she groaned, elbowing him. He let out a squeak, rubbing the area that she elbowed. Meg just laughed at his pain.

\--

Lindsay stared up at the top of the fort.  “How did you go back to Earth or wherever to get us?” Lindsay asked, looking over towards Meg. Gavin looked over too, seemingly interested in what Meg had to say. Meg didn’t look at the two, keeping her mouth shut. Lindsay reached over, prodding her. “Meg…” she murmured.

Meg looked reluctantly at Lindsay. Lindsay could tell Meg didn’t want to say anything, and she was about to stop prodding at her, when Meg opened her mouth to speak. “There’s this thing on my tablet I have. It allows me to travel back and forth, but only when I have permission from the Overseer,” she sighed. Lindsay felt a long sigh escape from her lips.

“There has to be a way to get around that though, shouldn’t there?” Gavin spoke up. Meg was quiet again, but this time, Meg noticed, she appeared to be thinking hard.

“There might be? I would have to see what I could do.”

That gave Lindsay a bit of hope. She knew she shouldn’t get her hopes up, but knowing it was a possibility gave her a small bit of hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I hope you guys like the updates. I have about 5 chapters left for this story and then I have a prequel to post that will explain (hopefully) 95% of the stuff going on. Thank you for all the kudos and comments, i've loved getting them!


	14. Of Voices and Kisses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin's becoming alarmed at how much the Michael in his head can control him. He's also starting to be aware that the more he spends in his fantasy world with Michael, the less he spends with Lindsay and Meg.

‘ _ Leaving probably wouldn’t work, Gavvy, and besides, I want you to stay here. _ ’

Gavin frowned, the voice coming out of nowhere. He had gotten accustom to hearing Michael's voice in his head over the last couple of weeks. Since the fort date, Michael had been more chattery, ranging from saying all the things Gavin knew he needed to hear, and then things like that. Lindsay and Meg had been focused on trying to figure things out.

“Michael, it’ll work. Besides, I’ll get to see you again, and I think that’d be better in the end anyway,” he murmured to himself, trying not to attract attention from Lindsay or Meg.

‘ _ But what if it didn’t work? Then you’d probably be stuck in limbo and we couldn’t talk anymore. _ ’

Gavin shook his head. “It’ll work, Meg’s brilliant, she’ll figure it out,” he assured Michael. There were days where he was grateful to hear Michael’s voice, but there were also days he just wished Michael would shut up. It was particularly annoying when he was trying to enjoy time with his two girls.

Gavin decided to join Lindsay and Meg in the living room. The two of them were curled up on the couch, huddling over the tablet.

_ ‘Gav, why don’t you go into the bedroom, maybe take a nice nap. You always seem to like when you have dreams. You don’t really need to be with the girls right now, do you? You’ll see them forever.’ _

Gavin frowned, looking out towards the girls. Yet he turned and found himself walking towards his room. “I’m going to take a nap,” he yelled out to the girls. Neither replied, so he just shrugged and walked into the room.

\--

It was alarming how easily Michael could convince him to do things. Most of the things were fairly innocent, but then he also realized that he had been isolating himself. He found it harder to ignore Michael’s voice in his head, but then again, he didn’t really want to ignore Michael. He felt special, knowing that it was just him that could hear Michael. Maybe it was selfish, keeping him to himself, but he couldn’t bring himself to feel guilty about it.

There were times when Michael did leave him alone, allowing himself to comfortably be around the girls. He supposed it was better that Michael was constantly in his head, it did allow for Meg and Lindsay to bond, something that he had already done a while ago with Meg.

Gavin walked slowly through the apartment, taking his time. He couldn’t help but wonder what the girls were doing. He didn’t see them in either of the bedrooms, and he knew they couldn’t possibly be in Meg’s workspace. Then he found them in the living room. There were curled up in a corner, leaning against each other as they watched a movie. Gavin almost walked forward until he watched Meg lean in and kiss Lindsay.

It was weird. Besides agreeing to the date, they had never officially established that they were all together, though as far as Gavin could tell, it was mentally decided. He didn’t mind seeing either of them kiss, though it did spike a bit of jealousy inside of him. Despite the jealousy, he was happy that the two of them were at the point that they were comfortable to do that.

When they pulled apart, Meg was the one who noticed him first. Lindsay was back to leaning against Meg, who was now motioning him to come over. Lindsay turned to look at him, smirking. “Look who decided to grace us with his presence,” Lindsay teased.

“You know, we’ve both been waking up before you lately, it’s weird. You used to get up before me and make the whole apartment smell like coffee and stomp around,” Meg said, looking at him. He just shrugged, sliding in next to Lindsay.  “Are you getting sick?” Meg asked, and before Gavin could shake his head, he felt Meg reaching over and placing her hand on his forehead.

“I dunno, maybe I’ve just been really tired lately,” he mumbled. He wasn’t about to admit to all his random Michael dreams and the fact that Michael keeps him up part of the night, randomly saying things while Gavin snuck out of the room to talk to him.

“It’s just weird, honestly,” Lindsay added. “I mean, I’ve only been here a bit, but you kind of are a bit different too?”

_ ‘Don’t tell them about me, Gav. They’ll get jealous. They’ll hate you if they know that you talk to me when they can’t…’ _

Gavin gave a small smile. “I’m just tired, not sure why. I’m still the same Gavin,” he teased. Neither of them looked too convinced, but then again, neither of them decided to continue the conversation.

_ ‘Good boy.’ _

“So, kissing. That’s new. Where could a bloke like me get some of that?” he asked, changing the subject.

“Well, if you weren’t walking around like a zombie lately, you would have been able to get into it a long time ago,” Meg teased, leaning over to give Gavin a quick peck. Gavin beamed, enjoying the attention from Meg. He turned over towards Lindsay, looking at her hopefully. The other female playfully rolled her eyes but leaned in.

Their lips met, and it was almost as though an electric shock passed through him. He leaned in further, attempting to deepen the kiss. She hummed softly and pulled back.

“Happy?” she asked. Gavin nodded smugly.

“Very.”

The three of them sat silently on the couch, cuddling and passing kisses around. Yeah, he could get to this, he decided. He could get very used to this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're almost to the end! Just four more chapters left! This is about two more weeks of posting! I'll be posting each chapter of the prequel on Mondays as soon as this is finished. Thank you to everyone who has stayed with me this long! I really hope you've been enjoying it!


	15. A Girls Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lindsay plans a girls night for her and Meg.

Being a part of the illusion was different. Ever since she had discovered that she had been brought into the Realm, it was almost as though the illusion meant something else. The Realm had been the only home she had ever known or remembered, but now she saw it somewhat like a prison, just like Gavin and Lindsay. Of course, in all reality, it wasn’t terrible being in the Realm. She had Lindsay and Gavin, and she wasn’t alone.

Meg hadn’t realized just how lost in her thoughts she had been until she heard a beeping noise. She had been testing scenarios for escaping the realm, seeing if it was even possible for leaving. Of course, this had been something that consumed most of her time, but each time it had just resulted in failure. This time was nothing different. Big read letters alerted to her failure. Groaning, she tossed her tablet to the side, putting her head down. She hated the idea that maybe it really wasn’t possible and she’d just end up disappoint Lindsay and Gavin.

A part of her wondered if the reason she kept failing was because she didn’t want to leave as much as she thought she did. Despite being trapped, it was almost like a blessing. Being in the Realm practically promised immortality, and it seemed as though that was what everyone looked for. Meg knew she had been here awhile, even if she hadn’t realized it. There had been a substantial gap between her disappearing and Gavin and Lindsay disappearing, yet it seemed as though she never aged. Never aging, never dying, maybe being in the Realm was good. Meg cringed at the thought of considering any of this good or a blessing. This wasn’t a blessing, it was a curse.

Meg wanted to meet Michael, actually meet him, not just read about him, dream about him, or hear stories about him. She couldn’t help but feel jealous that Gavin and Lindsay had real memories about Michael, while she could only rely on memory dreams.

Rubbing her eyes, Meg started messing with the tablet again, putting in new data. There had to be a way to make it work, she knew there had to be.

\--

Meg heard a knock on her door. Glancing up from the tablet, she reached over to open the door. Lindsay stood in the entrance, looking over at her. “Hey are you busy?” she asked. Meg glanced down to the tablet, bright red words flashing on the screen.

“Nope, what’s up?” she asked. Lindsay held out her hand. Meg raised an eyebrow, but stood up and took Lindsay’s hand. Lindsay led her to the living room.

“Gavin’s sleeping again, so I thought maybe we could have a girls night or well, a girl’s night date? I found a bath bomb I completely forgot existed, and I found a nice bottle of wine for us to enjoy. I also made face mask gunk for us to wear and found some nail polish,” she explained, looking extremely pleased with her self. Meg blinked, amazed by how much effort Lindsay put in.

“What’s…a bath bomb?” she asked, looking slightly confused.

“Oh! It’s basically this ball that you put in a tub during a bath, and it fizzes out. It usually has scents and essential oils. It’s for relaxing,” Lindsay explained.

“So…you want to take a bath together?” She asked. Immediately, she watched as Lindsay’s face was suddenly rapidly changing colors to a bright pink.

“Oh god, you’re not comfortable with that, are you? I’m so sorry, forget I said anything, let’s just drink the wine and do the facemasks,” she rambled, looking completely embarrassed. Meg giggled slightly, leaning forward to embrace Lindsay in a hug.

“I’m more than okay with taking a bath with you,” she assured. Lindsay looked up, eyes wide. Meg just grinned. “Lead the way.”

\--

“This smells amazing,” Meg announced, closing her eyes as she inhaled the scent. She leaned back, resting slightly against Lindsay. At first, she could tell Lindsay had been nervous, but Meg hadn’t wasted any time and encouraged Lindsay it was okay. She reached for her glass of wine, taking a small sip. Between the hot water and being held by Lindsay, she felt like she was in heaven. Of course, Lindsay was slightly stiff against her, which made Meg frown. She wanted Lindsay to be able to relax just like she was. “Relax,” she said softly.

“I’ve never taken a bath with another girl, but I wanted to try it, and I want it to be with you,” she admitted.

Meg let out a soft laugh. “Sweetie, I’m your only option right now,” she pointed out. Lindsay snorted, shaking her head.

“Even if I had other options, I’d still want it to be you,” she pointed out. Meg felt her heart skip a beat at the comment, this time it was her time to blush. “I know I was really standoffish when I came here, but honestly I’m kind of glad I got to be here.”

“Compared to Gavin, you adjusted pretty quickly. It took him awhile to even tolerate me, let alone being okay with being here. It took a lot of video games and never leaving him alone,” Meg sighed.

\--

They continued to cuddle in the bath, sipping their wine, and just talking. Meg learned about Lindsay’s obsession with cats, what she missed the most about Earth besides Michael, her favorite foods, and just things that Meg had never had the chance to really find out about. “If I can get us out of here, we should get a cat. Maybe three. Or four. I don’t know, however many we could handle. We’ll just be a cat family,” Meg suggested. Lindsay cheered along with the idea, pledging her support for it.

They let the water eventually go cold, but didn’t move until they absolutely couldn’t stand the water. Meg noticed Lindsay glance away as Meg climbed out. Admittedly, she found it a bit cute. Meg wrapped a towel around her self. “I’ll be in the living room, I’m just going to put a robe on,” she announced, leaving Lindsay alone in the bathroom.

\--

Meg smeared the face mask mixture on her face. It felt fairly weird. Lindsay explained she couldn’t remember everything was supposed to go in the mix, especially since she couldn’t just Google ingredients anymore. Meg brushed it off, telling her how perfect it was. The two leaned back, just relaxing.

“Gavin’s missing out,” Meg hummed.

“Well, if he wasn’t always locking himself up lately, he could have been invited to the ladies night,” Lindsay announced in a matter of fact tone. “In all seriousness though, has he been acting weirder? He was acting a lot better after he walked in on us, but it seems like he’s back to being distant again,” she said. Meg grimaced.

“He talks to himself sometimes too. I don’t think he knows that I’ve noticed it, but sometimes he just disappears and starts talking to himself,” she added. Lindsay frowned, looking concerned. “I’ll talk to him. By the looks of everything though, it almost seems like he needs all the sleep he’s been doing. The poor guy looks like he hasn’t really slept at all in a month,” she sighed.

The two of them eventually dropped the subject, instead choosing to sit quietly and enjoy the comfort each other had to offer as their masks did its job. “You’re an absolute genius for tonight, I hope you know that,” she announced, getting up so that she could go wash off the mask. They hobbled over to the bathroom, careful to not get the mask anywhere. 

“We’ll have to do it more often, ”Lindsay suggested, earning herself a nod of agreement from Meg.

\--

Gavin wandered into the bathroom, apparently not noticing neither Meg or Lindsay. They two looked at each other, eyebrows raised. He continued to not notice them and started to unzip the sipper. Meg cleared her throat, causing Gavin to jump. “Oh,” he gasped, wide-eyed. “Sorry!”

Meg glanced at Lindsay, who just shrugged. “When you’re done doing your business, you should join us in the living room, we’re hanging out and bonding,” she announced, taking Lindsay’s hand and leading her away from the bathroom.

Gavin joined them a couple minutes later. He glanced at everything around him, wrinkling his nose. Meg was admiring the colors she had chosen for her nails. “You missed the best part of the night already, but I think you could probably use a face mask. I’m sure it’ll do wonders,” Meg announced. Gavin looked at the goop, very reluctant. Meg reached In pulling out enough to start spreading it on Gavin’s face.

“You know what else would be great? If you let me do your nails,” Lindsay teased, earning a grimace from Gavin. “I’ll even let you pick what color,” she added. Gavin graoned, but pointed to a light blue shade. “Perfect choice!”

Meg took a moment to appreciate the moment. Maybe the Realm wasn’t that bad.


	16. A Dream of the Outside

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lindsay has a dream but is woken up by Gavin, who she finds talking to himself. She interrupts, and they have a talk about the future and what they plan to do if they ever leave the Realm.

_ “So do you guys know who the father is?” Geoff asked, taking a sip of his coke. Lindsay glanced towards Michael and Gavin, who both looked smug. _

_ “Nope, we kind of don’t care anyways,” Michael announced. Their friends let out chuckles, not surprised by the announcement. _

_ “Well either the baby is going to come out yelling at Lindsay, or it’ll have a giant as fuck nose,” Jeremy pointed out. Gavin shot him a glare, not appreciating the jab at himself. Gavin’s glare turned into a pout, looking towards Lindsay and Michael for comfort. _

_ “Well, he’s not wrong,” Michael pointed out, earning him the same glare that Gavin gave Jeremey. _

_ “I second that,” Lindsay pipped up. Gavin let out a groan, which just made Lindsay give him a thumbs up. She felt a kick, causing her to jump. Whimpering, she rubbed the spot that was kicked. “Whoever’s kid this is, is active as fuck. I swear to God, they’re never chill,” she complained. _

_ “So, it’s Michael’s then,” Gavin joked. Moments later, he let out a yelp, rubbing his arm from where Michael had punched him. _

_ “What about the baby’s gender?” Ryan asked. The three shrugged. That was another thing they had decided against finding out. Instead, they planned to wait and doing some sort of big reveal. Lindsay rested her hand on her stomach, smiling down on the baby bump. Whoever’s kid it was, whatever gender they were, she knew that this baby was going to be loved more than it could ever understand. _

\--

Lindsay woke up, rubbing her eyes. She slipped her hand down to where she had been cradling the baby bump in her dream. A sense of sadness swept through her. A baby. She wondered if she would have had a baby if she hadn’t been brought into the realm. In the past, she had thought about having kids and having a family one day. She knew it’d be a bit, that she hadn’t really been mentally ready for that. Lindsay sighed softly, knowing that now she would never have a chance to have a family like that. She didn’t think it would be possible in the Realm.

Lindsay felt a shift in the bed. Squinting, she could make out someone leaving the bed. Judging by the fact that she knew very well that Meg had slept next to her that night, it had to be Gavin. Biting her lip, Lindsay got up, following Gavin out of the room. She watched as he made his way towards the living room. She stopped herself, not going into the room herself. In some way, she felt like she was invading his personal space, but curiosity overruled her.

“No, you don’t understand, it’d be good for us, all of us,” Gavin said softly, letting out a small sight. “I don’t see why you’re so against it, it’s a good thing for all of us,” he grumbled.

Lindsay felt slightly confused, wondering who Gavin was talking to. Taking a deep breath, Lindsay walked into the living room. “Gav?” she asked, turning on the light. Instantly, she watched as all the color left Gavin’s face.

“L... Lindsay…How long have you been there?” he asked. She shrugged.

“Not long. I heard you leave the room, and I just wanted to make sure that you were okay,” she replied, not wanting to admit that she had heard enough to know he talked to himself. Gavin blushed.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just couldn’t sleep, you know. Sorry if I woke you up,” he replied. She shook her head quickly, moving to sit with him.

“No, I had a dream and woke up from that. So, I was awake before you left,” she explained. Gavin looked a bit worried at the fact that she had been awake.

“What’d you dream?” he asked, earning a sad smile at him.

“I dreamed about having a baby,” she replied. Gavin looked slightly confused.

“So…a memory dream or a real dream?” he asked.

“It felt like a memory, felt really real. I mean I felt like I was actually experiencing, I could feel all the kicks and everything,” she explained. Lindsay glanced at Gavin, looking at him with sad curiosity. “How come you never talk about dreams? Or well, memories?” she asked. Gavin glanced away, shrugging.

“I don’t get dreams like that with everyone. I’ve had dreams with Michael, but I don’t think those were memories, just normal average dreams. In a way, I’m really jealous that you and Meg have them,” he admitted. The answer shocked her. She thought they were all able to have the memory dreams, yet knowing that Gavin hadn’t really experienced it made her sad. She leaned against Gavin, still frowning as she stared at a wall.

“Maybe Meg will figure all of this out, and you’ll be able to make memories instead. We’ll get to be with Michael again, and it’ll be even better than the memory dreams Meg and I have,” she mused. “Besides, memory dreams are great and all, but it’s kind of bittersweet because it’s all unattainable, so it sucks almost as much as it’s great,” she explained.

Gavin slipped his arm around her, cuddling up to her. “If we make it out of the Realm somehow, I think we should move. Maybe burn this place down to the ground,” he joked. Lindsay snorted.

“Maybe not burn down the place. I wouldn’t want to switch one prison for another. I do want to find a house though. I want a house with a large master bedroom. Maybe with a pool or close to one. I’d honestly kill to go swimming again,” she hummed.

“I also think we should spend a week living outside. I miss the stars and I miss going hiking. I also miss going to work, so as soon as my week in the wilderness ends, I’ll probably head straight back to work,” he nodded.

“Going to the movies and to dinner out of the house sounds nice too,” Lindsay added. Gavin groaned approvingly.

“I support this idea, if we ever make it out of here,” he said. Lindsay reached for Gavin’s hand, lacing their fingers together. Even if they didn’t make it out, maybe it wasn’t so bad. At least they’d still be together. She just hoped that even if they weren’t with Michael, he was still happy somehow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's just one more official chapter left and the epilogue! Thank you so much for all the love and support everyone has given me on this fic! It's been fun having everyone read it!


	17. A Way Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meg's finally figured out how to leave the Realm, but Gavin's not too sure he's ready to leave.

“I figured it out!”

Gavin glanced over to Meg, who had been sitting quietly for the last hour or so trying to figure out how to program the Earth portal to work without the Overseer’s permission, much like she had been doing for the last month. He felt Lindsay lifting her head up off of his shoulder, staring at her as well. Meg jumped up, excitedly bouncing to them. She casually pushed her way between them and settled down.

“I know it took me a long time to figure it out, but I did it! I can’t have the portal open too long without the Overseer noticing, but it should be enough time that we’ll all make it through the portal is we make it quick!” she announced, gleeful about the discovery. Lindsay’s eyes were wide, staring at the tablet.

“So we’ll be able to officially go home? Do you think that people will remember us again?” she asked excitedly. Meg nodded happily.

“Considering I'm the one who deals with that? I can probably set it right before we go back!” she cheered. Lindsay was beaming about this information.

“So Michael will remember us again?” Lindsay asked. Meg grinned, nodding.

Gavin was silent, eyes scanning over the information.

‘ _ This won't work, Gavin _ ’ The voice said.

Something didn’t add up to him. “I don’t want to be that guy, but considering what you’ve told me this whole time, how do you know we aren’t going to just pop up back in the living room, and we don’t even know what it’ll do to you,” he pointed out. The girls went silent. Meg shook her head.

“I doubt it won't work. I secured the line between here and Earth,” she said, though even Meg looked slightly doubtful of her work. Truth be told, Gavin wasn’t sure he even wanted to leave. Sure, he missed Michael. He missed his friends. He missed everything, but inside of the Realm, he had Lindsay and Meg. He knew he could be with dream Michael. In a way, it was nice and they were safe. He knew that they were safe inside of their illusion.

When it came down to it, he wanted to stay there. “It isn’t so bad here, you know. I mean, we’ll practically live forever here, won’t we? We’re safe here, and let’s be honest, shall we? We don’t  _ know  _ what this might do to Meg if it doesn’t work, and I for one am not willing to risk losing someone else I love,” he pointed out. Meg looked down.

_ ‘Good boy, Gavvy’ _

“We won’t know until we try,” Meg murmured, not looking at Gavin at all. “I want to try. If we can get out of here, it’s worth the risk.”

_ ‘Do something, Gav.’ _

“What if we get there and Michael’s moved on? What if restoring everyone’s memory doesn’t work?” he pointed out. Meg looked up angrily at him.

“If you don’t want to go, fine. Stay here. I’ve been here way too long and didn’t even realize I was missing. So. I’m going to try, aren’t you going to too, Lindsay?” she snapped, looking over at her girlfriend. Lindsay swallowed hard, looking between Gavin and Meg. Gavin looked Meg angrily, frustrated that she put that ultimatum up.

“Gav…I’m sorry. I want to go back, I want to see the real Michael again. I miss being able to go outside, I miss my friends, I miss seeing my mom and dad,” she replied, although a bit reluctantly.

‘ _ It’s okay Gavvy, I’ll be here with you! _ ’

Gavin pursed his lips, getting up. “Fine, but when you’re back here in ten minutes or even if you do make it, but find out that Michael isn’t our Michael anymore, don’t bloody blame me,” he announced, stomping away.

\--

Despite what he had said, despite wanting to stay, he didn’t want to be apart from Meg and Lindsay. He couldn’t imagine being in the realm without them.

‘ _ I said I’d be with you here, forget about them... _ ’

Gavin shut his eyes tightly, breathing hard. “Just leave me alone for two seconds, Michael,” he hissed. There was no response. Gavin rested his head against the door of his bedroom. He tensed up as he heard a knock on the door.

“Gavin…” Lindsay called out.

‘ _ Don’t answer her. _ ’

He didn’t say anything.

“Gavin, please. Just…hear me out. Even if it doesn’t work and we end up back here, we’ll still be together. Even if Meg disappears, we’ll figure it out to get her back. Even if we do get there and Michael doesn’t remember us, we’ll still have each other. In the end, it will work out,” Lindsay said softly.

‘ _ Don’t listen to her. _ ’

“I don’t want to go home and not remember you anymore. I already existed in a time when I didn’t remember or know you, and if you don’t come, I have to go through that again,” she continued. Gavin reached for the handle.

‘ _ Stop. _ ’

Gavin’s hand dropped.

“Most importantly…I don’t want you to be alone here and I don’t think I could live without you,” Lindsay cried softly.

Gavin swallowed hard.

‘ _ I’ll be here though. I’ll love you, Gavvy. She’ll be fine without you, _ ’

“Gav, I love you,” she finally said.

Gavin gritted his teeth, deciding to ignore Michael’s voice. He reached for the door, twisting the handle. He saw Lindsay standing in front of the door, tears welling up in her eyes. Reaching forward, he pulled her into a tight embrace.

“I love you too,” he replied softly. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. Maybe the Michael in his head was telling him something else, but he couldn’t let this Michael control his life. He didn’t want to be here without Lindsay and Meg. “I’ll go.”

\--

Gavin watched at Meg set up the portal. She glanced back at him, a small smile on her lips. “I’m glad you decided to come,” she murmured. Gavin smiled back, shrugging.

“I…don’t think I can handle being without you and Lindsay,” he admitted.

‘ _ You’re an idiot, Gavin _ ’

Gavin ignored the voice. Lindsay gripped he hand tightly. Meg backed away from her tablet.

“The door is going to be our portal home. It should start working in about a minute,” she said. Gavin nodded. The three of them looked around. Gavin sighed softly. This had been his home for so long, he couldn’t imagine what it would be without it. He still slightly wished they weren’t leaving, but it was for the best, it had to be.

“With any luck, when we go back to Earth, it should be right before Lindsay disappeared. The only difference will be that Michael will have always had Gavin. It’s going to be a bit of work for me, considering I was never part of the original plan,” Meg explained. Gavin and Lindsay nodded.

Meg took Gavin’s free hand, smiling at the two of them. “I’ll see you when I see you. Not sure what it’s going to be like, but we’ll find each other. We always did,” she squeezed Gavin's hand. They quietly shared goodbyes and last minute kisses.

_ ‘It’s not going to work, the three of you are idiots for thinking it will….But I’ll be here for you Gavvy, I’ll be here when it doesn’t work,’ _

Suddenly the door started glowing, and he knew that it was time. Lindsay and Meg let go of his hands. Meg left first, then Lindsay. Gavin took one last look behind him.

For a moment, Gavin thought he could see Michael smirking at him, but he shook it off. Letting out a long breath, he stepped through the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!! We made it! Only the epilogue is left, which will reveal a few things for sure! Thank you so much for all the love and support I’ve been given for this story. It’s been amazing. I really hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and hope you guys like the epilogue! 
> 
> I’m going to be posting the prequel this Friday!
> 
> I wanted to apologize for how late this is. I’ve had such a busy schedule, and haven’t really had any time at all. School has been insane, and I haven’t been in the best place, but I wanted to make sure I posted this before tomorrow’s update.


	18. Epilogue: A Rude Awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael discovers something terrifying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know, I posted a chapter yesterday, but here’s the last chapter posted at the proper time!

Being inside of someone’s head was disorienting. Michael had lost track of what day it was and how long he had been trapped. He wasn’t even entirely sure he was all there mentally anymore. Most days, he didn’t see anything, he was just sitting in a dark room. He wasn’t sure when he eventually had gained back mobility of his body. Occasionally, the person who trapped him, whom he later learned called himself the Overseer, would talk to him. He’d taunt Michael, tease him about everyone moving on without him, never knowing he existed. Usually, he got to see what the Overseer saw, not that it was a lot. He discovered quickly that the Overseer was usually self-isolating.

“Oh boy, your partners are stupid, they ruined  _ everything  _ I worked so hard on,” the Overseer snorted. Michael blinked. Partners?

“What are you talking about?” Michael asked. The Overseer started laughing.

“Oh that’s right, you don’t remember them, so sad, you must be so embarrassed,” the Overseer teased. “Poor Gavin, he’d be so disappointed knowing you forgot him,” he hummed.

Gavin? Michael tried searching his brain. The name did ring a bell in his head. He stared out, trying to figure it out.

Then it hit him. It hit him hard.  _ Gavin _ . His eyes widened, horrified. He forgot Gavin. How could he forget Gavin?! His throat felt tight as memories started flowing. Suddenly he was seeing memories: Meeting Gavin, messing around in the office, their shows, their first date, their first kiss. He remembered how he was about to propose. Michael’s throat tightened up.

“Aww, little Mikey finally remembered. Think you could remember your other partner? I’ll give you a hint, it’s not Lindsay!” The Overseer teased again. Michael’s eyes widened, sick to his stomach.

Three partners. Three. Not only did he have three, but he somehow forgot two of them? “I’ll give you a hint, her name starts with an M,” The overseer hummed cheerfully as if he was really enjoying what he was saying.

Michael closed his eyes, trying to figuring it out. He knew it had to be somewhere in his head. If he could remember Gavin, he could remember this woman. He had to.

“I mean, it’s not surprising you don’t really remember her, she was gone before this reality even started, but after all, you always find each other, so it’s in there somewhere,” The Overseer chuckled. Michael tried to ignore him, instead of trying to remember.

As the name popped up, he felt himself sink to his knees.

“There you go! Poor Meg’s been here awhile, I should know, I pulled her out first!” The Overseer smirked. Michael felt sick. How could he forget any of them?

“Why did you do this?” Michael asked, looking angry.

“Boredom. Anger. Oh yeah, maybe it was because I wanted to just fuck up your life. I wanted to  _ destroy _ it. I wanted you to feel how I felt to lose everyone,” The Overseer replied.

“But why  _ me _ ?” He asked. The Overseer snorted.

“Why don’t you see for yourself?”

Michael furrowed his eyebrows, confused. He looked straight ahead, seeing something reflected in the mirror. Suddenly, Michael felt like he couldn’t breathe. Oh. _Oh god_.

Standing in front of the mirror he saw the last person he expected:  _ Himself _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we go! I really hope everyone enjoyed the story! I'll be posting the prequel this Friday! (I apologize for leaving it on a cliffhanger!) I'm going to be taking a brief hiatus on this series while I try to write the sequel, but I have it all planned out, so hopefully, I can get into the rhythm of writing it and can get it to you guys soon! Thank you so much for reading and for all the kudos and comments!!


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